- GIZ Project Helps Ghanaian Farmers Cut Post-Harvest Losses
The German Development Cooperation, in partnership with Saving Grains 301 GmbH, has handed over a new community warehouse to farmers in Shebo in the Northern Region. The warehouse is expected to help farmers store their grain safely, improve grain quality and reduce post-harvest losses.
It will also serve as a future marketplace where farmers, traders and buyers can meet, trade and get better market opportunities. The facility is one of the main achievements of the Fund for the Promotion of Innovation in Agriculture, known as i4Ag. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and implemented by GIZ, Saving Grains 301 GmbH and local farming communities. The project was designed to address one of the biggest problems in Ghana’s grain sector: post-harvest losses.
According to the release, post-harvest losses can account for up to 40.00% of harvested grain. This means farmers can lose a large part of their produce after harvesting because of poor drying, poor storage, pests, bad handling and weak market systems.
Over the past two years, the i4Ag project introduced several solutions to help farmers reduce these losses. These include hermetic storage bags, digital quality monitoring systems, traceability tools, improved storage facilities, biomass-based grain drying solutions and new business models for village entrepreneurs.
The aim was to help farmers store grain better, keep food safer and improve access to markets. The project has already trained more than 16,000 smallholder farmers in improved post-harvest management practices. Out of this number, more than 8,000 were women. The results show strong adoption among farmers. Around 90.00% of trained farmers adopted at least one of the promoted innovations, while 80.00% reported reduced post-harvest losses. The project also helped establish 27 farmer groups. Many of these groups are led by women and young people.
These groups are expected to support collective marketing, knowledge sharing and access to financial services.
Working with Saving Grains 301 GmbH, the project also tested market-based solutions for post-harvest management. More than 18,000 farmers were registered on the Saving Grains platform. Over 1,000 metric tonnes of grain were traded through the platform during the last 12 months. The project also introduced more than 6,000 hermetic storage bags to the Ghanaian market. Within the Saving Grains business model, post-harvest losses were reduced by 17.50%.
Speaking on behalf of the Sector Coordinator for Sustainable Economic Development at GIZ Ghana, Mr Issah Nadjo said partnerships were important to the success of the project. He said collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Farm North Ghana, KNUST, SESI Technologies and other national stakeholders helped to test the technologies under Ghanaian conditions.
According to him, these partnerships also helped strengthen local ownership and created a foundation for the technologies to continue being used after the project ends. The Greater Accra Regional Director of the Department of Agriculture, Ms Rogatta Antwi-Baadu, said the project’s legacy goes beyond the technologies introduced.
She said the strengthened partnerships, improved skills and lasting infrastructure such as the Shebo community warehouse will help reduce post-harvest losses, improve food security and create new economic opportunities for smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs.
The closing week of the project began on June 30, 2026, in Shebo with the official inauguration of the community warehouse. The event was attended by more than 50 representatives from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the World Food Programme, the District Department of Agriculture, local chiefs and farming communities.
The closing week ended in Accra with a workshop involving MoFA, GIZ, Saving Grains 301 GmbH, academia, financial institutions, private sector actors, farmer organisations and development partners. The workshop reviewed the achievements of the project and discussed how the successful ideas can be expanded beyond the project period. The project, titled “Reducing Post-Harvest Losses and Utilising Agricultural Residues,” is part of the i4Ag programme.
For Ghana, the project is important because food security is not only about producing more food. It is also about protecting what farmers have already produced. When farmers lose grain after harvest, they lose income. Consumers also face higher food prices because less food reaches the market. Better storage, better drying and stronger market links can therefore help both farmers and consumers.
The Shebo warehouse is expected to play a direct role in this effort. It will give farmers a safer place to store grain, reduce losses and allow them to sell at better times instead of rushing to sell immediately after harvest.
This can improve farmer incomes and strengthen rural livelihoods. The project also shows the importance of simple but practical innovations in agriculture.
Hermetic bags, better drying systems, digital monitoring and farmer groups may not always attract the same attention as large infrastructure projects, but they can make a big difference in the lives of farmers.
For many smallholder farmers, reducing losses after harvest can be as important as increasing production.
The GIZ-backed project has now ended, but its impact is expected to continue through the warehouse, farmer groups, digital platforms and the skills farmers have gained.
The next challenge will be to scale up these solutions to more farming communities across Ghana.
If that happens, more farmers could protect their harvests, earn more from their produce and contribute to stronger food security in the country.
