Assessing the postharvest needs of Kauran Mata Community, Kano state, Nigeria

The paper posits that food problems of most of the Third world countries and Nigeria inclusive does not lie with underproduction but lies with what happens to food at post harvest stages. It indicted lack of post harvest know-how and technology as the primary bane of food security in these countries, and maintained that postharvest technology needs assessment if carried out would lead to an overall development of farming especially at postharvest stages and nip food insecurity in the bud. It carried out a postharvest need assessment of Kauran Mata farming community and found out what their needs are in this order of priority: warehouse/withholding structure, multipurpose dryer, plastic crates, evaporative coolant structure (ECS), fruits shed, leafy vegetable basket, and the fish box. Furthermore, it recommended that the government meet the postharvest needs of the community either by providing these needs for them at no cost or at a subsidized cost, or better still the farmers themselves synergise and pool resources together and acquire these needs or get help from the Bank of Agriculture or other related institutions. Conclusively, it brought to the fore the need for farmers in Kauran Mata to be trained on how to effectively utilize these technologies to achieve utmost efficiency.