This report presents results of cost-benefit analysis of modern post-harvest technologies (metal silos and hermetic bags) with particular focus on maize, beans and cow peas in Benin. The need to reduce post-harvest losses for major food crops comes against the background of huge food losses being incurred in Sub-Saharan Africa as food producers, consumers, their national governments and other food value chain players fail to prevent them. Losses vary by country, food commodity, capacity of farmers, post-harvest handling, processing and storage technologies and processes they use but range between 1-30% of harvest. Currently, total food losses in Sub-Saharan Africa are estimated to be worth $4 billion per year and losses on cereals are estimated to be high at about 14 million tonnes and account for about 25% of the total crop harvested.
