Extension Approaches-The Innovations-Household Pit Storage Rehabilitation Using Plastic Bag Lining and its Impact on the Reduction of Grain Storage Loss in East Hararge Zone: the case of Babile, Gursum and Midega Tola Woredas

Written by:Temesgen Kassa and Zelalem Belayneh

 

In Ethiopia, as in many parts of the World, large numbers of poor and food insecure farmers store their grain in underground pits. In the East Hararge zone of Ethiopia, the pits are characterized by different shapes and sizes ranging from 0.25 to over 2 tons in capacity. They are rarely lined with any protective material resulting in spoilage of 30-40% due mainly to moisture and insect infiltration after burying. The result is that already vulnerable families lose an additional one third of their meager harvests. Farmers and the global development community have long recognized this problem endemic to Ethiopia and much of the World’s food producers. While attempts at addressing it with affordable, scalable and locally available technologies have been large in number, truly effective and universally appropriate solutions have been elusive...Read more