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III. Summary of work and principal conclusions
After the welcoming address and the election of officers, the provisional agenda prepared by AGSI was adopted, after minor changes in the timetable.
Following the opening session' the representatives of Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Gabon, the Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, the Niger? Nigeria, Senegal and Zaire made statements on the situation of dried products and techniques being used in their countries' and on significant national experiences. Also, Ethiopia and Senegal submitted technical documents. Written statements from Tanzania and Upper Volta? who were unable to attend? were transmitted to delegates.
The new possibilities offered by natural drying of perishable or fragile produce such as fruit, vegetables, roots and spices were emphasized; the processing of cereals, fish and meat was also touched on, although this was not on the agenda.
Delegates were able to take note of the most relevant improve_ meets, often simple to introduce in Africa, to bring traditional drying techniques up to date. Methods were described, that could be used to identify projects for FAO assistance' with a view to increasing the income of rural people.
Some of the speakers provided information on industrial equipment recommended for small industrial units in rural areas' which would create jobs in the countryside.
Lastly, the technical and socio-economic commissions prepared a series of recommendations and suggestions, general and specific? addressed to FAO and to governments' which were adopted at the closing session after various amendments.
The concerns of the African delegates, expressed through questions raised during the discussions and set out in their recommendations, cover 26 points.
FAO should organise other meetings' similar to the present one' for either "decision-makers" on development programmes' or for research workers, to permit a quicker dissemination of information in a field that is rapidly expanding (cf. Recommendations 1, 3, 4 and 26).
The establishment of pilot units appears to be an indispensable preliminary for adapting equipment and procedures to local conditions, so that potential entrepreneurs, private or governments can see for themselves that the equipment is viable, and has potential for development. The pilot units could also produce dehydrated products for desirable, and sometimes compulsory market tests.
These same units can later be used for training staff and for assisting government officials by developing the necessary organisation, in particular with regard to the supply of raw materials (cf. Recommendations 4, 5 14, 16, 17, 22, 23 and 25).
Study tours for high level staff should be organised in other countries and in university centres, cooperative or private organisations, already working with solar drying units, This would improve their understanding of specific problems in this field so that they would in a position to formulate development projects and plans, with the benefit of thorough knowledge of the subject and a valid methodology (cf. Recommendations 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 16).
The revival of solar drying of the more perishable agricultural products appears to be a promising method of reducing post-harvest losses, improving rural incomes and contributing to self-sufficiency, even of reducing some imports through substitution products. It should be accompanied by an incentive price policy (cf. Recommendations 6, 9, 12, 15, 16 and 22).
The fielding in 1984 of other fact-finding and project formulation missions is urgently requested, for countries present that were not visited in 1983. Priority should, however, be given to the implementation of projects already identified or pre-identified (cf. Recommendations 18, 19, 20, 21 and 23).
A better knowledge of existing equipment is also essential, and the countries present wish to have as soon as possible information on such aspects as costs, reliability, construction standards, comparative trials, ease of use (cf. Recommendations 2, 7, 9, 24 and 26).
While preserving the traditional marketing channels best suited to dehydrated products, there should also be proper organisation of collection, control, additional processing, and packaging of such products,
The establishment of centres in rural areas provides an exceptional opportunity for creating an industry that would encourage the population to settle in rural areas instead of cities, thus improving their diets through the consumption of traditional foods (cf. Recommendations 9, 13, 15, 16, 17 and 22).
Lastly, it appears from the various scientific papers presented that solar drying, given the low operational temperatures (about 60 ), preserves the nutritional value and the flavour of products processed. Biogas and photovoltaic cells can provide the additional energy required for industrial units.
It has been demonstrated that solar drying is viable and is being developed for small units or for domestic use. The solutions depend on the scale or the output desired. For large-scale industrial units with a high output, the interest of solar drying is for the time being limited to energy saving.
The various forms of technical assistance that FAO could provide in this connection were also explained in detail.
As Mrs. Basse concluded, on behalf of all participants, "it was a brilliant idea to have this meeting... one must remember that the path ahead will be difficult, but it is heartening to see the progress made recently in improving solar drying and putting it within the reach of rural people and even industry."