Huge Global Post-Harvest Losses Are Avoidable By Bruce H. Rubin | IDN-InDept Ne!s"ie!

point LAN#DAL$% Pennsylvania (IDN) - In todays world of growing populations and food needs, we are revisiting, with respect to agriculture, the old adage "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime!" "owever, too often in the developing world, we are letting the newly-educated man down #y not providing him with infrastructure needed to save, sell, or transport what he grows! India% A&rica% Latin A'erica and ot er developing regions continue to &ace crippling unger and poverty rates. Despite t e consistent production o& agricultural products% t e post- arvest loss rate &or &ruits and vegetables overs around ()* and as re'ained t ere &or years% under'ining t e ability o& local &ar'ers to &eed t eir country'en and develop e+ports. , e total spoilage o& post- arvest loss overs around -.. billion tons. #o'e i'portant &acts and &igures/ In India only 0* o& products are te'perature controlled Post- arvest losses cost 1 ina at least 23 billion per year and Pa4istan 2- billion In Pana'a post- arvest losses approac 3) * In #ub-#a aran A&rica% post- arvest losses o& orticultural crops range &ro' .) percent to an astonis ing 5) percent.

,o address t is !orld-!ide proble' o& spoilage and to i'prove t e potential &or developing countries to &eed t eir populations% Nen4o Advisors International% LL1 as developed a concept uni6ue in concept and i'ple'entation/ 7RA#P7. $hat is %&'() RA#P is an o&&-t e-grid% alternative energy% agricultural cold storage &acility ai'ed at preventing post- arvest loss o& &ruits and vegetables !orld!ide. 8it RA#P% !e co'bine t e latest in cold storage 'anu&acturing tec nology and control !it a uni6ue solar po!er syste' using concentrated sunlig t as t e energy source. 9sing electronically integrated syste's% co'bined !it proprietary control units% RA#P produces a cold storage product potentially capable o& dra'atically reducing t e loss o& &ruits and vegetables in t e developing econo'ies o& t e !orld. , is ig per&or'ance solar tec nology not only 'a4es a s'aller &ootprint t an co'peting tec nologies% it is ti'e tested in t e &ield and as 'et t e stringent tec nology re6uire'ents o& t e 9nited #tates Depart'ent o& De&ense. , e RA#P cold roo' can be located at any point in t e supply c ain% &ro' t e &ar'% to t e village% to t e e+port center. , e current service li&e o& t is po!er syste' is pro:ected to be 0; years. , e RA#Pcold roo' is planned to be a 'ini'u' o& 0( &t + -) &t + 5 &t. but scalable to 'eet t e needs o& eac geogrp ical area and can beco'e part o& a co'plete ub and spo4e distribution and storage syste'.

, e entire syste'% ! ic includes t e solar po!er arrays% battery storage ban4s% control units and cold roo'% can be easily asse'bled in a 'atter o& days by a s'all tea' o& se'i-s4illed !or4ers. , e a'ount o& crops t at can be stored in eac RA#P unit is esti'ated at a 'ini'u' o& -) 'etric tons% !it scalability to larger capacities possible and anticipated. RA#P supplies t e 'issing lin4 in t e cold c ain !it ease o& deploy'ent% cost e&&ectiveness% ease o& operation% lo! 'aintenance% scalability and t e ability to be re'otely controlled and 'onitored. It also as t e potential to allo! &ar'ers globally to 'a+i'i<e t eir crop production by utili<ing all o& t e land t at t ey ave available to plant. RA#P !ill allo! &ar'ers to arvest crops ! en t ey are at t e rig t ti'e to be arvested and t ere&ore 'a+i'i<ing t e potential &or inco'e. In 'any cases our researc s o!s t at crops are pic4ed ! en t e ='iddle 'an> is co'ing not ! en t e &ar'er s ould. 8 en &ully deployed% RA#P s ould dra'atically increase t e a'ount o& cold storage available !orld!ide and can play a 4ey role in solving t e pu<<le o& reducing !orld-!ide crop spoilage. $hat Ne*t) , e developers o& RA#P are see4ing 2- ?illion to erect its de'onstration unit in t e 9# and t is nu'ber pales in co'parison to t e &ollo!ing statistics &ound on !!!.stopt e unger.co' , ere over 5@3 'illion people in t e !orld ! o are undernouris ed. Aver 2(.; 'illion is spent on daily subsistence &ood aid% ! ic represents over 2-.@B billion per year. , e 2-.@B billion !ould pay &or over -)%3)) RA#P units% ! ic in turn could &eed 'any 'ore people and by using local products rat er t an i'ported crops. Despite t e pro:ected bene&its &ro' t e i'ple'entation o& RA#P% t e product re'ains un&unded. 1ertainly not &ro' t e lac4 o& trying. Aver t e last t!enty 'ont s% t e partners o& RA#P ave been turned do!n by 'a:or &oundations% venture capital and angel &unds% and 9#AID. , e &oundations t at ave said NA include% , e Gates Coundation% , e Ho!ard Bu&&et Coundation% , e Roc4e&eller Coundation% , e #oros Coundation% , e 8al?art Coundation% , e Pepsi1o Coundation% , e ?acArt ur Coundation% and ot er less !ell-4no!n groups. In so'e cases !e !ere not ever replied to a&ter a nu'ber o& &ollo! up e'ails. , e reasons !e ave received &ro' &oundations include/ Not &unding post- arvet loss or orticultural product pro:ects at t is ti'e RA#P is too early in develop'ent RA#P does not &it into t e &ood security solutions !e are &unding.

8e ave been turned do!n by tens o& venture and angel &unders ! o ave given us si'ilar ans!ers to t ose stated above plus responses t at !e !ere not as4ing &or enoug 'oney% !e are setting a unit-price too ig % or !e are proposing pro&it 'argins t at are too ig or too lo!.

, e RA#P tea' once t e de'onstration is built !ill s o! t e potential custo'ers !e ave t at our solution can truly elp &eed t e !orld and truly 'a4e =&is er'en> out o& every &ar'er globally. , e !orld needs to stop studies and investigations and progra's on gro!ing 'ore but needs to invest in solutions li4e RA#P t at &ocus on saving ! at is already gro!n% provides access to 'ore inco'e &or &ar'ers globally% and i'proving t e in&rasturure in t ose areas o& t e !orld t at need it t e 'ost. DBruce H. Rubin eads t e Nen4o Advisors International% LL1. He as over t irty years e+perience in product develop'ent ta4ing pro:ects &ro' concept t roug sourcing% costing% pricing% t e supply c ain process to &inal sales. He as !or4ed !it sources and partners globally &ro' $urope to t e Car $ast. EIDN-InDept Ne!s F Nove'ber -(% 0)-.G Related IDN article/ Battle Against Post- arvest Losses 1an Be 8on ttp/HH!!!.indept ne!s.in&oHinde+.p pHglobal-issuesH-(3--battle-against-post- arvest-lossescan-be-!on 0)-. IDN-InDept Ne!s | Analysis , at ?atters P oto/ , e !riter #end your co''ent | #ubscribe to IDN ne!sletter Collo! us on ,!itter and Caceboo4/ ttp/HHt!itter.co'HInDept Ne!s ttp/HH!!!.&aceboo4.co'HIDN.GoingDeeper