Photo: MLI

On site at the grain bulking center of a USAID grantee in Rwanda that can now use a clean plastic sheet and a modern platform scale to ensure quality handling of maize. USAID co-financed the purchase of this equipment, which replaces rudimentary methods such as drying directly on the ground that results in contamination from pollutants.

Photo: MLI

A mobile dryer in field testing in Eastern Kenya. Smallholder farmers face many constraints to access adequate drying and storage facilities and are often forced to dry their maize through rudimentary means, such as roadside drying. This results in improperly dried grain, deterioration of the grain in storage, and the development of aflatoxins to levels which are fatal if ingested. Through USAID support, the mobile dryer—an innovative technique in Kenya—brings modern drying closer to farmers.

Photo: MLI

Farmer Field Day at UZ Investments, a grain bulking center and grant recipient under USAID’s Market Linkages Initiative. USAID and UZ co-funded the field days to reduce insect infestation and moulds and improve crop conditioning so that smallholder farmers can obtain a higher price (based on quality) when they sell their crops to the grain bulking center.

Photo: MLI

Collection centre for Smart logistics, a USAID grantee buying crops from smallholder farmers. USAID support for the refurbishment and expansion of staple crop storage warehouses and integration of smallholder farmers into these storage systems results in improved sales and income for smallholder farmers, such as the ones pictured above.