Dina Elinson

I am the project leader of a social enterprise called Harvest, part of Enactus Edinburgh, that aims to reduce post-harvest losses (PHL) in Malawi, particularly during storage of the harvested crop. Smallholder farmers in the southern region of Malawi are particularly susceptible to PHL, as research has shown they lack access to affordable and effective solutions. Our project is dedicated to the provision of agricultural consultancy. We will act as an intermediate agent, bridging the gap between companies providing emerging grain storage technologies, such as hermetic grain storage bags, and smallholder farmers in order to target the signficant post harvest losses plaguing Malawi. We will source companies’ products at a subsidised price in exchange for increased publicity of their brand and real feedback from farmers. In addition to increasing the accessibility of the aforementioned storage technologies, we will run educational workshops, through which we will demonstrate effective handling of the storage facilities and raise awareness of efficient agricultural practices. We are partnered with Challenges Worldwide and are looking at carrying out a trial in the next few months.