TRIDI Trains Community On Value Addition and Post Harvest Handling

Value addition is one of the important components of nutritional security. Sometimes farmers get less price of a particular farm produce due to its surplus production. This problem can be solved by the crop diversification which creates an opportunity to earn more money from the different crops produce.

This entire process starts from post harvest handling which has been one of the biggest issues affecting farmers in Uganda. Post Harvest Handling is a system of handling, storing and transporting agriculture commodities after harvest

Its importance has been established over years to allow effective planning on how to sustainably manage finite resources for future generations.

With support from Topical Institute Of Development Innovations (TRIDI) through department of Applied Chemistry, farmers and community around are able to benefit from short skills training scheduled to take 4 days (23rd-26th August 2022) at TRIDI Chemistry Laboratory.

This according to Milton Candia who heads Chemistry Department at TRIDI comes at the backdrop of many community challenges they have been witnessing ranging from poor post harvest handling,lack of skills in value addition and self creativity.
“We have for long done just a few activities in the community ranging from community awareness, cleaning environment and this has made community know very little about what TRIDI does hence making them not take advantage of the availability opportunities.”Said Candia

Image 1: Head Of Chemistry Department TRIDI, Milton Candia

This short skill training will be of great value to the community through
encouraging the youth to be creative , innovative and bridge the gap of unemployment,job creation , employable skills and reducing the risks of poor post harvest handling.

“We see many agro products being wasted and not handled well,sometimes tomatoes are just poured,fats from pork joints poured and wasted not knowing those can be used in Tomatoes sauce and soap making respectively,so this just a motivation to have farmers in the community equiped with hands-on skills to maintain food security and value addition”He added

Agriculture becomes attractive to young generation only when it’s profitable, competitive, and dynamic. For this, use of innovative technologies, improvement in input supply and value addition is vital

Amutukwasize Lauben Parada head of Production in Applied Chemistry at TRIDI says for long, students leave their various institutions and just float without any job or skills to start on so opportunities like this should be embraced with much positivity because it will bridge that gap and make them self empowered

Image 2: Head Of Production in Chemistry Department (TRIDI) ,Lauben Amutukwasize Parada .

“Some of the short skills training we shall offer are;Liquid and bar soap making,tomato sauce , yorghurt and many other skills”

Image 3:Some of the items to be used during the trainingImage 4:Samples of Tomatoes sauces to be made.

Image 5:Samples of Liquid soap to be made.

Image 6:Some of the participants getting set to take the training

In a nutshell,when the community practice food security,value addition and good post harvest handling,it helps to enhance the productivity and consecutively the production of food.

It can also assist in providing opportunities for income generation and , it generally provides improvement of nutritional values through enhancing the quality of rural life by way of community development.

Compiled By Christine Awor , Public Rations Officers (TRIDI)