Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss

Malawi

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss in Kansas State University’s College of Agriculture will serve as a sub-awardee under Nascent Solutions on a McGovern-Dole Food for Education program in Malawi.

PHLIL will lead a set of post-harvest and school feeding improvement activities that address key components in the McGovern-Dole Results Framework and Learning Agenda. The program will be led by PHLIL Director, Dr. Jagger Harvey. Experts from across multiple disciplines and institutions will contribute to this work.

Activities will include:                                                                    

• Conducting a baseline assessment to identify postharvest issues along the Food for Education in-country value chain, related to proper drying and storing of stored product crops (maize, soy, groundnuts, pigeon pea, etc.).
• Develop and deploy evidence-based mitigation strategies, handed over as integrated intervention packages (technologies and training programs) through extension support to students, PTA members, farmers, government stakeholders, etc.
• Conduct an impact evaluation of the school feeding program implemented by Nascent Solutions, equipped with PHLIL interventions. This evaluation will deliver key information about the efficacy of local procurement and valuable information to support the move toward the transfer of the program to Malawi beyond the project itself.
• Enhancing the capacity of the local university partner and rallying national stakeholders around these solutions will be a foundation throughout the project.