- Author: Brenda Dawson
![View inside a cold room, with crates of fresh vegetables in front of a wall-mounted air conditioner wired to a CoolBot device. One of the vegetable crates has a sticker on it with logos including USAID.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/food/blogfiles/35388small.jpg)
In many developing countries, more than half of all fruits and vegetables are never eaten, but instead are lost, damaged or spoiled after harvest. These “postharvest” losses can mean that farmers need to sell their fresh produce as soon as it is harvested for whatever price they can get, before they lose the crops that represent investments of labor, water, and agricultural inputs. Improving how fruits and vegetables are handled after harvest can significantly prolong freshness — and cooling is key.
“The three most important aspects of postharvest handling are: temperature, temperature, temperature,” said Michael Reid, UC Cooperative Extension...
- Author: Mary E. Reed
- Contributor: Lisa Kitinoja
![Diane Barrett teaching at the in-person sessions at the PTSC.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/food/blogfiles/13295small.jpg)
In sub-Saharan Africa, postharvest losses of horticultural crops range from 30 percent to an astonishing 80 percent. Ongoing problems with food quality, safety and nutritional value are well documented. A number of past projects have identified appropriate actions, including implementing improvements in produce handling, training for regional agricultural leaders, capacity building, and small-scale infrastructure development, but these recommendations had not ever been integrated into local solutions. In 2011 the Horticulture CRSP awarded a pilot project to Diane Barrett, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the...