Consultant - Postharvest

Working in close collaboration with county governments, CIP supports potato marketing cooperatives to develop into functioning businesses through collective marketing of members’ potatoes. Postharvest storage presumably improves market access and profits by consistently providing markets with potato regardless of harvest gluts and scarcities, and taking advantage of higher prices during scarcities. However, the socio-economic feasibility of varying types of storage units is not clear. Thus, under AVCD, CIP is seeking a consultant to assess socio-economic feasibility of differing types of storage units targeting differing profiles of user:

• Small-scale individual household storage usually 4 to 10 tonne capacity, relies on managing ambient conditions to improve storage conditions giving moderate control of temperature and relative humidity;
• Ambient storage, normally 50 to 100 tonne capacity, relies on managing ambient conditions to improve storage conditions giving moderate control of temperature and relative humidity;
• Cold storage, 500 to 1000 tonne capacity, using power to maintain temperature and relative humidity at a pre-determined level.

The Consultant will be responsible is to assess the economics of each storage type addressing all costs associated with each storage type, including direct costs and indirect costs, such as potential loss of stored commodity.

 Considering each storage type, the study is to elaborate on:

• Economic feasibility and profit margins at specific time intervals of storage, identifying the assumptions and risks;
• Management models for ambient and cold stores considering group dynamics, differing types of storage services (i.e. warehouse receipts, farmer sells to cooperative who then manages sales and risks), and distribution and utilization of storage returns;
• Feasibility of household and ambient storage for storing marketable quantities of potato considering that a 50 tonne storage unit is sufficient for 2 ha of potato production.