Smallholder farmers lose 20-40% of harvested grain and oilseeds to spoilage before sale

African smallholder farmers experience massive post-harvest losses due to inadequate storage infrastructure, pest infestation, and moisture damage—directly reducing their income and food security. Traditional storage methods fail to preserve crops effectively, forcing farmers to sell immediately at depressed prices or watch their harvest rot. Current chemical preservation solutions are expensive, unsafe, and inaccessible to resource-constrained farming communities.