Banner image: Inspecting maize quality during a practical training session. Photo credit: Phillip Schmitt.

Agriculture plays a significant role in the Democratic Republic of Congo; however, the sector faces many challenges which often leads to low profitability. One key driver of this is post-harvest loss of agricultural products due to poor handling and storage practices. In the DRC’s Haut-Katanga Province, maize warehouses often struggle to keep up with inbound inspection, pest management, and product rotation. Post-harvest losses and storage challenges are costly for farmers and intermediate buyers —  reducing their revenues and ultimately leading to higher food prices for consumers. Many farmers are unaware of warehousing and storage best practices, but with training and education, they can strengthen their practices to reduce product loss in warehouse settings.

The small-scale producer Heritier Kileme N’Samba experienced this challenge firsthand with maize losses increasing from 22 percent to 28 percent from 2020 to 2023. Heritier explained: “Inadequate control and inspection of maize bags during storage led to significant losses over the years, primarily from pest damage and moisture issues.”

 

Leveraging Expertise From Land O’Lakes, Inc.

To tackle some of these challenges, the Feed the Future Management of Fall Armyworm in Maize for Smallholder Farmers in the DRC (M-FAW) project took advantage of a Land O’Lakes Venture37 rotational volunteer program that leverages Land O’Lakes, Inc. experts for short-term assignments. Through the volunteer rotation, Land O’Lakes, Inc. supply chain planning expert Phillip (Phil) Schmitt worked with two farmers’ associations in Haut-Katanga to train maize warehouse workers and managers. He explained, “During this training, we created awareness of storage and process management, focusing on inbound inspections, pest management, and product rotation, aiming at helping associations decrease the risk of maize infestation, preserving its nutritional value. High product quality increases its value and, consequently, boosts the association's profitability.”

Phil explained that he tailored his training sessions to each warehouse after a formal assessment of their practices, infrastructure, and equipment. Phil’s training sessions for the associations drew 42 attendees from four different villages in the province. Notably, more than half of the participants were women, which is a part of the activity’s broader efforts to empower female farmers and improve agricultural productivity.

Phil’s overall goal was to help the two associations establish a simple version of the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS), a system that allows farmers to document storable goods — in this case, maize — for a warehouse receipt. This system can help producers benefit from greater negotiation capacity with wholesale buyers. The new simpler version will facilitate farmers with a short-term loan in exchange for depositing part of their maize production.


Phil Schmitt and translator Raphael Angela leading the training in Kapemba Village.

 

Phil’s Recommendations

Based on his assessment, Phil centered his training session around three major recommendations:

First in, first out product rotation: First, Phil stressed the importance of the “first in, first out” product rotation, an inventory process to sell/use oldest inventory items first. The method focused on storing the maize into “blocks” in the warehouse and posting clear receipt dates to ensure they were always selling the oldest product first. Phil explained that this simple rotation can help warehouses greatly reduce the risk of pest infestations and mold — to which older products are typically more prone.

Strengthen inbound inspections: Inbound inspections play a crucial role in ensuring substandard products do not enter the warehouse. During his training sessions, Phil taught attendees about sampling methods and key inspection aspects, such as identifying visual defects, measuring moisture content, and confirming weight and quantity. For example, attendees learned that they should ensure maize moisture levels are at 10 to 13 percent prior to storage, and that they should reject or segregate any bad product.  They also learned that products should be stored off the ground, utilize block storage and implement a housekeeping program for the storage facility, prior to the rainy season, when moisture is high… and insects are rampant!

Adopt best practices for pest management control:  Phil recommended partnering with local entomologists and scientists to promote best practices for pest management control. During Phil’s training sessions, he partnered with a local entomologist who provided additional best practices on pest prevention with a large focus around the maize weevil, a destructive grain pest. He played an instrumental role in providing local knowledge and insights. They also led a practical training on inspections of inbound product and storage of product in the warehouses, discussions on how to prevent and manage the challenges faced by the region’s pests, and a session on methods to treat pest-infested maize.
 

Positive Feedback From Attendees

Marceline de Kambove, a participant from Kampemba found the training to be very useful. She explained, “For years, we have been experiencing a significant loss of agricultural produce due to lack of warehouse receipt system knowledge. Now, we've learned essential skills such as testing humidity levels; understanding the role of pallets; maintaining proper spacing between bags of produce, walls, and ceilings; ventilating storage facilities; organizing bags within a depot; and managing administrative documents.” She explained that she planned to share these training with members who were not able to attend in person to create a ripple effect in her community.

After the training, participants have taken the training sessions to heart. Many attendees have already began applying Phil’s recommendations, such as using pallets to elevate their product and installing concrete floors to reduce exposure to pests and moisture. Participants in Kampemba, Katanga, and Kambove have reorganized the storage area in their community warehouses in accordance with the standards learned. This approach helped reduce losses caused by pests, humidity, waste, and inadequate spacing between rows of bags, walls, and the ceiling.

Phil shared: “The association members turned this into an unforgettable experience. Their involvement far surpassed my expectations and made it a highly effective training for the team. They were eager to learn everything possible to boost their yields and productivity. This assignment has deepened my understanding of the participants, their challenges and needs, and enhanced my ability to tailor future informative and actionable sessions more effectively.”