EMPOWERING PAKISTAN THROUGH SOLAR FOOD PROCESSING

“THE GAME CHANGER”

OVERVIEW

REDUCTION OF POST- HARVEST LOSSES: Pakistan is facing 40% post harvest losses every year due to low capacity to process food. This is equivalent to $4-5 Billion in losses. LOW COST GREEN TECHNOLOGY: Small scale food processing through solar dryers helps to increase the entrepreneurial initiatives and empowers the poor farmers.

ALTERNATIVE INCOME GENERATING OPPORTUNITY: Preservation of perishable items at household level also enhances the food security and reduces poverty due to unstable seasonal income through agriculture.

ECONOMIC FACTORS

High Unemployment Rate

• Very high unemployment Rate

• 2 Million people joining the ranks of the unemployed every year

High Employment in Agriculture Sector

• 45% of Workforce Engaged in Agriculture Sector

High Post Harvest Losses

• 40 % Post Harvest Losses

High costs of fruits and vegetables

• In some months the rates of fruits and vegetables are 10 times higher then in the season.

Generate Employment

Capitalize Resources and Increase Income

Innovative Methods to Minimize Post

Harvest Loss

Help to sustain market prices by introducing solar

drying technology

Health Factors

High Population Growth

• Population 200 Million.• Annual Population Growth Rate 2%• Expected to double by 2050

High Undernourished

• 65% of Pakistani families are food insecure

• 55% of Children Undernourished and have Vitamin A and D deficiency

High mortality rate of under 5

• 86 children per 1000 die before reaching their 5th birthday.

Creative Food Security Strategy Required

Need to Increase Nutrition Intake

Behavior change activities related to safe water and

hygiene

HEALTH FACTORS

ENERGY FACTORS

High Energy Cost

• Most of the waste due to high transportation cost

• Fuel for cooking is too costly

Reduce weight and volume by drying the products using solar

dryersDehydrate your products before

cooking using solar dryers

FINANCIAL LOSSES

• Pakistan is losing $4-5 billion a year in post harvest losses

• This is equivalent to $16-20 billion after value addition

OBJECTIVESCreate a new agro based sector in Pakistan which generates $15 billion in revenue for the country in 10 years

Farmers or wholesale suppliers

Solar Drying Clusters

Food Processing Unit

Home consumption

National Market

International Market

MODEL

Solar Dryer Unit We will achieve our objective by introducing “home use” Solar Dryers. SDUs operate on sunlight using three concepts:

a) Direct sunlight, b) Outside temperature, c) Hot air generated by sunlight.

The Solar dryer unit has two main sections:

a) Solar Collector, b) Drying Chamber

What next – a “Speakers Initiative”

• Patron: Speaker NA • All PA Speakers• Ministry of Food Security• Research organizations NARC, PARC, etc• Pakistan Army• PTV and Media• Private Sector• Pakistan Army• MFIs – Khushhali, Akhuwat• PPAF, BISP, etc

Patron Ambassadors

Rodolfo – ArgentinaHeather – CanadaBrigitta – AustriaNedim – BosniaIna – GermanyHiroshi – JapanIstvan – HungaryAnd many more!

And the development agencies like USAID, DFID, FAO, WFP, SDC

THANK YOU