Webinar: Servitisation and Digitalisation to fight food loss

Soaring temperatures around the world increase the perishability of farmers’ harvest. In many countries across Latin America, more than a third of the fresh produce gets spoiled yearly due to gaps in the cold chain. This severely impacts food security, causes easily avoidable carbon emissions, pushes down farmer incomes, and forces them to distress sell for low prices.

Exploring avenues to enhance the quality of life in rural areas by optimising smallholder farmers’ crop production and marketing practices is of paramount importance. Particularly in a post-pandemic scenario, where external inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides incur substantial costs, addressing this challenge requires a multifaceted approach.

In this webinar, we delve into one potential solution: leveraging new digital solutions to bolster the efficiency of the fresh produce value chain. Additionally, we examine the role of research and training in facilitating farmers’ adoption of these digital solutions, ultimately fostering sustainable agricultural practices and bolstering economic growth in rural communities.

Your VCCA had the privilege of participating in a bilingual webinar hosted by the Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA). The purpose of this event was to shed light on how servitisation and digitalisation can help  effectively reduce food loss during the  postharvest phase. Researchers from Empa and finance experts from BASE  highlighted how these two strategic approaches can work in synergy, offering innovative solutions to address this pressing challenge in the agricultural sector. The panel was joined by Clementine Chamber, the co-founder of Oorja Development Solutions Limited. She shared Oorja’s experience and lessons learnt from implementing Your VCCA in their cold room in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India.

In case you missed the webinar, the recorded session is now available below.