Government is training rural artisans to produce metal silos that are essential in reducing post harvest losses. The project, dubbed Effective Grain Storage, is being run in Mashonaland Central and Manicaland and sponsored by Cimmyt, Swiss Development Corporation, The University of Zimbabwe and Department of Mechanisation in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.

The project came after a realisation that many small-scale farmers were incurring huge losses as their food was destroyed by pests and rodents during storage.

Project co-ordinator Engineer Tirivangani Koza yesterday said the new technology involved the use of air-tight metal silos and super grain bags. The metal silo keeps the grain for long with no damage and lasts for up to 30 years.

Eng Koza said so far 25 rural artisans from Shamva and Makoni districts were undergoing training. He said the aim was to train more than 100 artisans in maize growing areas by end of year.

"To facilitate dissemination of the technology we have identified rural artisans who after training can also train others back home," he said.