1. Post-harvest systems analysis - Introduction methodology

1.1. Introduction
1.2. Methodology
1.3. Contribution of the country study to the FAO framework

1.1. Introduction

In the agricultural sector, production and post-harvest activities have largely been treated as separate subsectors. Whereas a lot of emphasis was put on research and development of agricultural production, fewer resources have been invested in post-harvest development. It has been rather dominated by isolated activities of technology transfer.

Recognising the new challenges in agricultural development resulting from market liberalisation, targeting of government sector responsibilities and providing food security for growing rural and urban populations, post-harvest development must be seen from a more integrated and holistic perspective. Major donor and development agencies reoriented their conceptual work and adopted a systems approach, among them the Group for Assistance on Grain After Harvest (GASGA)¹ which has been widely recognised for its technical expertise on post-harvest operations.

A post-harvest system is the set of operations and functions between production and consumption of agricultural commodities which are fulfilled by different actors in order to achieve an effective and efficient food supply.

The post-harvest systems approach provides the following advantages:

- includes all operations between harvesting and consumption in the analysis,

- combines, both, the analysis of operations and actors involved and thereby links the commodity perspective with the actors' perspective which has been used in Farming Systems Research,

- provides a clear perspective on targeting public and private sector responsibilities and activities,

- has a focus on the development objective of increasing the efficiency of the system by lowering the transaction costs.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Rome, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Eschborn (Germany), are in the process of conducting country studies on post-harvest systems analysis based on a conceptual framework of FAO (Flach 1995). Kenya was selected by the GTZ working group on post-harvest systems as a country for conducting the first in this series of studies.

In Kenya, the agricultural sector is of high importance. Growing urbanisation trends call for an effective and efficient post-harvest chain. GTZ supports agricultural sector development already on the level of sector planning. As a preparatory step, the University of Hannover, Germany, was commissioned to conduct a preliminary survey on the suitability of different commodities for such an analysis (cf. Fleischer, 1996). Based on the decision of the participants of a workshop in Nairobi in May 1996, root and tuber crops were selected due to their importance for food security.

In order to serve different information needs this study has a dual purpose:

The testing of the methodology of systems analysis in selected crops with the perspective of contributing to the FAO/GTZ/GASGA activities of elaborating guidelines for subsector analysis.

Providing information on the structure of the post-harvest system of two crops in Kenya, where limited knowledge is available and substantial potential for development is assumed. It is thereby a tool for creating awareness among stakeholders and an initial step for the conceptualisation of planning development activities in the subsector.

The intended target groups of the study results include the following:

- decision-makers in Kenya who are responsible for macro-economic and sectoral development planning,

- decision-makers in the agricultural research-extension system in Kenya,

- national and international research centres working in post-harvest research,

- donor and technical co-operation agencies dealing with post-harvest programmes and projects,

- the GASGA group with special reference to the development of guidelines for PH system analysis.

Recognising the diversity of the information needs of the intended users, the report has been structured in five chapters. Chapter 1 is targeted at readers interested in the methodological considerations of conducting a country study on post-harvest systems. Section 1.2 describes the field study methodology with special attention to rapid appraisal techniques, section 1.3 compares the approach chosen with the FAO framework on post-production systems.

Chapter 2 presents the results of the PH system analysis of potato with special reference to one of the main production areas (Mew district). Chapter 3 analyses the sweet potato PH system based on survey findings in Kisii district. Chapter 4 consists of a comparative analysis of the performance and constraints of the two crops that are at the opposite ends of a commercialisation scale. Conclusions from the systems analysis on the constraints and opportunities for development are drawn. Chapter 5 gives recommendations for different levels.

1.2. Methodology

The FAO Framework on Post-Production (Flach 1995) provides guidelines for country studies on post-harvest systems. The methodology elaborated during this study is a test in which way the general framework can be adapted to the conditions of a specific local situation.

The process of adaptation can be characterised by three major issues:

The present study is undertaken in the stage of an open orientation phase that is not bound to an existing program or project intervention.

The analysis puts a strong focus on institutional constraints in the system. Constraints of adoption of specific technological innovations played a less prominent role.

It appears that RRA is a suitable tool for exploratory studies and participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques may come into consideration when project activities are planned.

The process of adaptation included the creation of awareness among stakeholders in policy planning, research and extension on the importance of an integrated approach.

This country study is a component of a four-stage process (see figure 1). Phase 1 consisted of the conceptualisation of the systems approach. In phase 2, the adaptation of the theoretical framework to the specific conditions of Kenya was made during a preliminary mission (Fleischer 1996). This included the creation of awareness and the selection of an appropriate commodity group. The present report presents the results of phase 3 which covers the field research and data analysis. This shall be followed by a review phase.

The planning of phase 3 incorporated several elements which are found crucial for post-harvest systems studies:

Building of a multidisciplinary team of Kenyan and international experts from different affiliations to include different perspectives and experiences in the analysis of the post-harvest system.

Participatory training of team members in methods of systems analysis and the selection of appropriate rapid appraisal methods.

Involvement of Kenyan organisations from policy planning, research and extensions in the planning of the study.

Elaborating survey hypotheses on the system performance from different information sources. The survey team adopted a number of rapid appraisal techniques for the field survey based on the identification of survey hypotheses, relevant operations and actors in the post-harvest chain. They visited the districts of Meru and Kisii to analyse the rural part of the post harvest system. Additionally, the rural marketing structure has been investigated in three other districts, Nyandarua for potato and Homa Bay and Rachuonyo for sweet potato. Information gaps that appeared after concluding the field study phase, were filled by an additional study by the Policy Analysis Matrix team of Egerton University. A second study on urban sweet potato consumption characteristics was contributed by J. Alumira and C. Obara of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing. In addition, one of the two post-study workshops recognised the importance and relevance of consulting local organisations/institutions at the grassroot level so as to enhance effective "bottom-up" planning.

Figure 1: Overview of Country Study Approach

Although generally rapid appraisal techniques are regarded as advantageous for exploratory studies, they share their own problems (Guyton et al 1994, Holtzman et al 1995). Thus they do not substitute formal research hut give guidance on posing the right questions. The team experienced some particular strengths and weaknesses of the approach (see table 1).

Table 1: Strengths and weaknesses of the field survey methodology

Strengths	Weaknesses
multidisciplinary background of team members	survey is not able to validate prior research results, e.g. on losses in sweet potato PH operations *
national and international background of team members	limited perspective on development prospects of possible technological innovations, e.g. sweet potato processing
team members had knowledge and experience in the crops	limited spatial range of study sites
cost-effective implementation of data collection and analysis	representativeness of study findings is limited
thorough preparation of field study tools and analysis	problems in quantifying data
participatory working sessions on application of systems approach to the selected crops
creation of awareness among stakeholders
strong emphasis on gender role perspective
flexibility of methodology
survey hypotheses could be relatively easily discarded from further investigation when proven of minor importance

· This is not a weakness in the survey methodology but rather the inability of the study to validate prior research results and its lack of data on historic development are seen as resulting from a lack of necessary information.

The study suffered from lack of high quality data e.g. on consumption surveys that would have assisted in estimating future demand for potato and sweet potato and in view of the need to improve the quality of data from public institutions, it is proposed that some work should be done in this area. This infect is a potential area for improvement.

For the rapid rural appraisal the following tools were used:

· semi-structured interviews with purposively selected male and female heads of farm-households and other household members. Stratification of the sample was chosen according to two criteria, i) distance to market outlet, ii) area grown with potato and sweet potato, respectively. It is noteworthy here that future work on PHS will not only target purposively selected household heads and their wives, but will also deliberately recognise female-headed households preferably by interviewing particular actors in given activities whether men or women to recognise gender balance

· informal group discussions with village community members,

· semi-structured interviews with rural actors (brokers, agents, traders),

· direct observation of post-harvest and marketing operations,

· informal key informant interviews.

Data collection on the structure of the post-harvest system at the urban level was also made by using rapid appraisal techniques:

· semi-structured interviews with processors,

· informal interviews with actors in the wholesale markets (traders, agents, retailers),

· direct observation of post-harvest and marketing operations.

An overview on the schedule of activities is given in table 2.

Table 2: Summary on type of information gathered in the survey

Type of information	Survey on potato PH system	Survey on sweet potato PH system
Appraisal of rural PH system
secondary data on farming and PH systems characteristics	discussions with agricultural officers in Meru	discussions with district agricultural officers in Kisii report from DAO Kisii
on-farm PH operations	interviews with 14 men and 11 women farmers in Kibirichia and Timau divisions 2 group discussions in both divisions of Meru, and one in Weru town in Nyandarua district	interviews with 8 men and 5 women farmers in Mosocho and Marani divisions in Kisii district and 4 men and 2 women farmers in Homa Bay district. Women group interview in Rachuonyo district
rural assembling operations	4 interviews with agents and direct observation in Meru and Nyandarua districts	5 interviews with agents and direct observation in Kisii district
rural market operations	4 interviews with traders in Meru and Nyandarua districts system	10 interviews with traders in Kisii, and 2 in Homa Bay district
Appraisal of urban PH system
wholesale market operations	10 interviews with traders, brokers, agents in Wakulima market and 2 interviews in Nakuru market	4 interviews with traders, brokers, agents at Kisii bus stop market
retailer operations	4 interviews with retailers in Wakulima market	4 interviews with retailers in Wakulima market and Kibera
processing	5 interviews with crisps and chips processors

Additionally, secondary data was collected from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing, the Central Bureau of Statistics, city councils, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), the International Potato Centre (CIP), other publications and "grey" literature.

Although an additional study availed information on sweet potato consumption in urban areas, data on levels of rural consumption is lacking. Further work needs to be undertaken to fill this gap since the rural consumer is an important part of the post-harvest chain.

1.3. Contribution of the country study to the FAO framework

The proposed FAO Framework on Post-Production (Flach 1995) provides guidelines for country studies on post-harvest systems. The methodology elaborated during this study is a test in which way the general framework can be adapted to the objectives and conditions of a specific local situation.

The process of adaptation can be characterized by three major issues:

- The present study is undertaken in the stage of an operation orientation phase that is not bound to an existing program or project intervention.

- The analysis puts a strong focus on institutional constraints in the system.
Constraints of adoption of specific technological innovations played a less prominent role.

- The process of adaptation included the creation of awareness among stakeholders in policy planning, research and extension on the importance of an integrated approach.

Additional aspects that should be included in the framework are the following:

· A survey methodology. It appears that RRA is a suitable tool for exploratory studies and participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques may come into consideration when project activities are planned.

· An analysis of economic and institutional factors influencing the post-harvest system would also be useful.