Report on training of trainers on handling postharvest loses of watermelons, mangoes and pineapples held on 27th & 28th January, 2020 at MOFA Regional conference room, Tamale, Ghana

Abstract

The Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) Project is geared towards impact measurement and capacity building across the districts and regions of Ghana. As part of the project, a workshop was organized by the Northern region RELC in collaboration with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Food Research Institute on training of trainers on reducing postharvest losses of some selected fruits (watermelon, pineapple and mangoes). This was held at Ministry of Food and Agriculture conference room at Tamale in the Northern Region from the 29th to 30th January, 2020. A total of sixty (60) participants comprising mainly RAD- extension, MAO-Ext ension, DAO crops, DAO-WIAD, WIAD officers were involved. Forty-five (45) participants were males and fifteen (15) were females. The welcome address was given by Mr. Declerq Mensah, Regional Director of Agriculture RDA, Northern region , who re-enforced the commitment of District of Food and Agriculture (DOFA) and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in improving productivity and income through the adoption of appropriate post-harvest technologies within the agriculture sector. He explained the need for field officers to be equipped with the requisite knowledge and skills to effectively train farmers in the agriculture sector across the districts and regions of Ghana. The overall objective of the workshop was to train field officers on how to properly handle post-harvest losses of the mentioned fruits. Specifically, key concepts of postharvest management of fruits were defined, techniques involved in fruit juice processing were established and participants were equipped to transfer acquired skills and knowledge to farmers. The topics covered were: Basics of food processing, Importance of Food Preservation, Processing of fruit juice, Food safety and Food packaging. Hands-on training and practical sessions were adapted to involve all participants of the workshop. The expectations of the participants and facilitators of the workshop include the following; understand basic principles of food processing, importance of food preservation, be equipped with techniques and principles of processing of fruit juices, understand and apply the basic principles of food safety and be equipped with techniques of food packaging