Picture yourself waking up before sunrise and carrying your harvested vegetables to the market, only to discover that there is no demand for your agro-produce. You are compelled to sell your harvest at a low price since you cannot store and preserve your produce to sell it tomorrow, nor are you able to take your produce to a distant market where there is a demand. For millions of smallholder farmers in Nepal, this helplessness is an everyday reality. Already dealing with obstacles like erratic weather patterns and market unpredictability, the well-being of farmers is severely disturbed by limited market access.
In Nepal, post-harvest loss is estimated to be around 30-40%. Alas, the grueling labor of farmers goes in vain as a major portion of their fruit and vegetable production is lost before reaching the consumers. Moreover, this loss also has an adverse economic and environmental impact. Mandala Agrifresh, a post-harvest management company on a mission to tackle this issue, is enabling farmers access to low-cost technologies that enable them to reach distant markets by keeping the produce fresh for longer without the need to invest in cold storage.
In March 2023, Mandala Agrifresh conducted a pilot of Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) bags with an agriculture cooperative in Dailekh, Nepal. The cooperative, which has close to 300 members, operates a vegetable collection center to provide market access to its member farmers. But the cooperative was facing numerous challenges in efficiently operating the collection center and managing its supply chain due to the lack of knowledge and access to proper post-harvest management technologies and practices. This prevented them from distributing the produce to distant markets, both within and outside the district. As such, despite having cold rooms to store the vegetables, the cooperative faced huge post-harvest losses since there was only limited demand for vegetables in the local market. This meant that the farmers were losing a significant portion of their income due to the lack of market access.
To address these challenges, Mandala Agrifresh provided post-harvest management training to the cooperative and their farmers. They were taught about post-harvest management practices and how adopting such practices would bring efficiency to their overall supply chain. The company also provided the farmers and the cooperative with MAP bags and educated them on techniques to incorporate MAP bags into their existing supply chain. MAP bags are designed to preserve the quality of fresh vegetables by reducing the respiration rate of the produce. The MAP bags are simple, easy to use and do not require farmers to make substantial changes to their current post-harvest practices, making them an ideal solution for rural smallholder farmers in Nepal.
Following the training, the farmers and the cooperative conducted the piloting of MAP bags in their supply chain with great results. The adoption of better post-harvest management practices along with the adoption of MAP bags enabled the farmers and the cooperative to keep the leafy greens and other vegetables fresh for longer. Farmers now harvest the produce and package it in MAP bags. This has enabled farmers and the cooperative to keep the leafy green vegetables fresh for 2-3 days. This increase in the shelf life of fresh produce under ambient conditions has enabled the cooperative to reach distant markets like Surkhet, which was not possible otherwise. Access to distant markets has enabled the cooperative to get higher prices for their produce, increasing the income of the farmers. The cooperative has now increased the collection of vegetables from the farmers and has quadrupled the volume of sales.
At the same time, the shelf-life extension of vegetables using MAP bags has significantly empowered farmers by giving them more control over their sales decisions. Farmers can now wait for market conditions to improve before selling their produce, ultimately increasing their profits. Moreover, the use of MAP bags has also helped farmers save time and reduce costs associated with transporting their produce to the market. Farmers now have the option to aggregate their harvest over a day or two before taking the produce to the market, reducing the number of trips they need to make. This has saved them time and also reduced the cost of transportation, leading to an increase in profitability.
Overall, the pilot conducted by Mandala Agrifresh was a huge success, as it helped the cooperative improve its post-harvest management practices and connect with distant markets. The use of simple and easy-to-use technology like MAP bags proved to be an effective solution to address post-harvest management challenges and reduce post-harvest losses. This partnership with the cooperative is an initial milestone in Mandala Agrifresh's mission to reduce post-harvest loss in Nepal. By reducing food loss, Mandala Agrifresh is contributing to a more efficient and sustainable supply chain, ultimately empowering farmers by improving their livelihoods and ensuring a better future for their families.
