A survey was carried out to determine and analyze the technologies used in post-harvest handling and storage of grain by farmers. Two hundred farmers were surveyed and several visits were made to research farms and trial and demonstration stations. Traditional technologies exist in the handling and storage of grain. Improved technologies are being introduced but these are not being adopted by farmers either because the technologies are expensive or farmers are reluctant to introduce change. Losses start immediately after harvest where contaminating agents and injuries are introduced along the many temporary handling stages before conditioning. Maize is still dried in the banda, a practice dating back from times when house roofs were made from thatch. The current roof design of the kitchen/living house, with corrugated sheets as roofing material is not conducive to the rapid drying of maize. A design which permits more air exchange with the outside would aid in the rapid removal of moisture from the drying grain. The maize crib is the predominant storage structure for grain in the middle plateau region of the country. This structure can. store maize successfully for up to 8 months but it is inappropriate for environments with varying relative humidities.
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