Adventures in the Chocó part 2: The importance of youth and education towards the reduction of postharvest losses by Karin Albornoz

Quibdó, Chocó region, Colombia

Our first days in Quibdó, capitol of the Chocó region, were anything but quiet and still, and that was exactly what we were looking for: to deeply immerse ourselves  in the reality of the region, to know the needs and concerns of its citizens, and to introduce ourselves so we could have an open exchange of views and ideas.

The first formal activity was a “conversatorio” (discussion group) that was announced among professors and undergraduate students of Agroforestry Engineering major of the Technological University of Chocó.

The Technological University of Chocó “Diego Luis Córdoba”, located in Quibdó, was founded in 1968 and started its academic activities in 1972 (upper picture credit to David LaFevor, http://www.vanderbilt.edu/esss/resources/photos.php)

The purpose of this meeting was to introduce the project funded by the Blum Center at UC Davis “Reducing Postharvest Food Losses for Poverty Alleviation through Sustainable Solutions for the displaced women in Yuto, Colombia”, to explore the extent of the understanding of the sources of postharvest losses in the region by the students and to exchange ideas about potential solutions, adapted to the context and reality of the people of the Chocó.

The topic of postharvest losses had a great reception by students and faculty from the Technological University of Chocó.

Dr. Diane Beckles presented an overview of the sources of postharvest losses of tropical crops, showing low cost and affordable technologies to reduce them.

Several of the attending faculty expressed their interest in establishing long-term collaborative efforts to develop technologies that are adapted to the environmental and socio-cultural conditions of the Chocó region. Since it is a tropical region with high average temperature and relative humidity, the lack of electricity on a permanent basis in some villages, seriously hinders the implementation of refrigerators/cold rooms that represent the classic tool to extend the shelf-life and quality of fruit and vegetables in more economically advanced regions.

Furthermore, one of the faculty members manifested the urgency of strengthening the teaching of postharvest biology in undergraduate programs with emphasis in agriculture and plant sciences.

With all this information and a more clear idea of the existing gaps in the access to postharvest technology by farmers of the Chocó, we decided to go to the farmers market, which is located next to the Atrato River.

One of the classic postcards of the Chocó is the Atrato River, considered one of the largest rivers in the world and located in the greatest rainfall area in the Americas.

Our visit to the farmers market left us simply astonished. The incredible diversity of fruit and vegetables, the colors, shapes and aromas are absolutely captivating and invited us to have a bite. We bought several of the local pineapples for experimental purposes. Our aim was to get an estimate of the sugar content, which as expected, turned out to be highly variable, mostly due to our quick (and perhaps suboptimal) sampling in the market.

We also observed the application of low-cost tools to reduce postharvest losses, such as covering plantains and bananas with cardboard to avoid the excessive sunlight exposure that accelerates ripening and deterioration and the use of plastic crates and cardboard boxes for mango, lulo, guava, pineapple and lemon transportation (reducing shaking and mechanical damage). In contrast, we also detected the large quality defects due to mechanical damage of fruit i.e. the presence of lesions, browning and discoloration, pathogen infestation and some conditions that may threaten food safety.

The great diversity of produce we found at Quibdó farmers market made us think about the great export potential of this region, however the implementation of low-cost feasible and affordable postharvest tools seems urgent to reach this goal.

Furthermore, this point of the Atrato River is the center of collection and loading of narrow boats (canoe-like) that distribute fruit and vegetables across its numerous tributaries, taking the produce to other villages, such as Quibdóma, Curvaradó, Vigía de Curvaradó, Riosucio, La Honda, Cacarica, Puerto Libre and Sautatá.

Besides the lack of temperature and atmosphere control, this system reflects an efficient supply chain that takes advantage of the local knowledge, resources and conditions. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement in terms of the postharvest handling and management, which could be the critical factor to boost the Chocó agriculture to broader and more demanding markets.

To be continued…