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Improved on-farm storage reduces seasonal food insecurity of smallholder farmer households – Evidence from a randomized control trial in Tanzania

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  • Brander, Michael
  • Bernauer, Thomas
  • Huss, Matthias

Abstract

Ending hunger is a key goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015. This goal notwithstanding, the prevalence of severe food insecurity of the world’s population has increased. It is highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the seasonality of harvests leads to fluctuations in food insecurity, particularly in the lean season, the time before the harvest is brought in. We posit that addressing seasonal food insecurity requires not only increased food production, as is commonly argued, but also consideration of post-harvest losses during storage. Here we present the results of a randomized control trial on the effects of improved on-farm storage on seasonal food insecurity. Our intervention provided farming households from two districts in Tanzania with hermetic storage bags that can help reduce storage losses. Seasonal food insecurity was measured via multiple rounds of SMS-based surveys. The results show that the intervention reduced the proportion of severely food insecure households by 38% on average in the lean season, and by 20% in the full seasonal cycle. These findings demonstrate that a simple and inexpensive technology could contribute strongly to reducing seasonal food insecurity and improving smallholder farmers’ year-round access to food.

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  • Brander, Michael & Bernauer, Thomas & Huss, Matthias, 2021. "Improved on-farm storage reduces seasonal food insecurity of smallholder farmer households – Evidence from a randomized control trial in Tanzania," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:98:y:2021:i:c:s0306919220300932
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101891
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    2. Joeva Sean Rock & Matthew A. Schnurr & Ann Kingiri & Dominic Glover & Glenn Davis Stone & Adrian Ely & Klara Fischer, 2023. "Beyond the Genome: Genetically Modified Crops in Africa and the Implications for Genome Editing," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 54(1), pages 117-142, January.
    3. Schwab, Benjamin & Yu, Jisang, 2022. "Guaranteed Storage? Risk and Credit Constraints in the Demand for Postharvest Technology and Rice Seed Storage Decisions in Bangladesh," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322475, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Shukla, Pallavi & Pullabhotla, Hemant K. & Baylis, Kathy, 2023. "The economics of reducing food losses: Experimental evidence from improved storage technology in India," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    5. Christopher Mutungi & Julius Manda & Shiferaw Feleke & Adebayo Abass & Mateete Bekunda & Irmgard Hoschle-Zeledon & Gundula Fischer, 2023. "Adoption and impacts of improved post-harvest technologies on food security and welfare of maize-farming households in Tanzania: a comparative assessment," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(4), pages 1007-1023, August.
    6. Channa, Hira & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Feleke, Shiferaw & Abdoulaye, Tahirou, 2022. "Overcoming smallholder farmers’ post-harvest constraints through harvest loans and storage technology: Insights from a randomized controlled trial in Tanzania," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    7. Xiaoyu Sun & Xiaoli Yang & Ruilong Zhang, 2022. "The Determinants of Grape Storage: Evidence from Grape Growers in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-14, December.

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