Metal silos: Manual for Manufacturing Metal Silos for Grain Storage (2nd ed.)

Since 1980 SDC has sponsored the “POSTCOSECHA” postharvest loss reduction Programme for maize and beans in Central America. With lasting impact: The massive spread of simple metal silos manufactured by local tinsmiths has enabled smallholder farmers to considerably reduce crop loss and enjoy much greater food security. At the same time, the activity created rural businesses, which in turn have generated employment. Be it in Honduras or Guatemala, Nicaragua or El Salvador: The silver grey cylindrical silos sponsored by the SDC’s POSTCOSECHA Programme are dotting the Central American landscape. POSTCOSECHA, the Spanish term for “post-harvest”, has become the label of the metal silo approach in helping to ensure that agricultural products can be stored for personal consumption or later sale. Metal silos are easy to handle and come in various sizes. Any farmer who has a silo on his farm can eat maize or beans all year round and is free to decide when to bring his surplus harvest to market. POSTCOSECHA introduced and scaled-up massively the new storage technique in four countries from 1980 to 2003. By 2007, there were over half a million silos being used in these four countries. Moreover, the silo manufacturing activity is a welcome additional source of income for nearly 900 farmer tinsmiths: when they are not working in the fields, they spend their time producing silos. Farmers in Central America nowadays are able to save an estimated 50,000 tonnes of agricultural products from crop loss each year, which amounts to about USD 12 million in preserved value.

160 pages, illustrated, photos

Publication Details

• Published: 2008
• Publisher: Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation / SDC
• Dewey Decimal: 690.537
• ECHO Library: 690.537 SAD