Baseline Survey on Postharvest Handling Practices by Maize (Zea Mays L) Grain Growers and Traders in Lower Eastern Kenya

Maize (Zea mays L.) is Kenya’s principal crop and staple food which is used by many communities in different forms such as “ugali”, “githeri”, “mukimo” and “muthokoi”. However, postharvest loss along its handling value chain is a major challenge to its production and especially in Lower Eastern Kenya. This study sought to establish how the target farmers carry out postharvest practices such as processing of grains, storage, control of pests and aflatoxins to reduce post-harvest losses. A mixture of techniques including administering questionnaires to household heads, focused group discussions and key informant interviews were used. Data was collected from 319 farmers in Kitui, Makueni, Machakos and Tharaka – Nithi Counties in lower Eastern Kenya. The study revealed that majority of farmers (85.9%) dried maize before storage with a high number of farmers (67.7%) drying maize in the sun. It was noted that a large number of farmers (81.8%) shelled maize before preparing it for storage. However, it was observed that most farmers in this region did not store a lot of maize because the maize yield was low, where 32.3% of the farmers indicated that they harvested less than 10 bags of maize, 2.8% harvested 11–30 bags while 1.9% harvested above 30 bags. Majority of farmers 66.9% reported being aware of occasional food poisoning incidences in their counties of residence while 33.1% of the respondents were not aware. The study also revealed that methods used by farmers for storing maize resulted in loss of maize as confirmed by 47.0% of the farmers. The major challenges facing maize storage included pests as identified by 57.4% of the farmers. It is important that all maize growers and traders be continuously sensitized and educated on proper postharvest handling of maize grains to reduce losses.