Because of a rapidly expanding world population and rapidly deteriorating agricultural environment the world's food supply is being critically challenged. It has been shown that even with our best production technologies we are going to fall far short of the food needed to  feed the world's ballooning population that is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050. Since we know now that 1/3 of the food that we already produce is lost between the time it is harvested and consumed it makes sense that we need to substantially reduce these postharvest food losses if we are to feed the world's population. Because of a poor cold chain and limited postharvest technologies developing countries suffer most from postharvest food losses that often run to over 50% of the harvested crop. 

When setting out to reduce postharvest food losses in developing countries we are faced with a postharvest  "Skill Gap" and "Technology" gap. This is the result of our underinvestment in food preservation (5%) as opposed to our investment (95%) in food production.

The World Food Preservation Center LLC was formed to fill these postharvest gaps as they occur in our higher education systems worldwide. The mission of the World Food Preservation Center LLC is to educate (M.S./Ph.D.) young students/scientists from developing countries in the latest postharvest technologies for the postharvest preservation of food and have them conduct research on much needed new technologies suited to their countries. The following is a link to one of the first graduates of this program.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n75jhl76kr8ggx7/Converted_file_73e67045_converted.mp4?dl=0

The World Food Preservation Center LLC is presently comprised of seventeen major research universities and two major research institutes on six continents. GrainPro, Inc., a manufacturer of postharvest technologies for developing countries has partnered with us.

In order for the World Food Preservation Center LLC to impact on small holder farmers in developing countries it is proposing that its graduates receive business training along with their postharvest education. This will give graduates the option of establishing the "WFPC Postharvest Solutions Centers" that we are proposing as independent businesses. Owners of these Centers can serve as professional role models for famers a in rural agricultural areas and perhaps attract more youth to agriculture as a profession.

Professor Jane Ambuko who heads the World Food Preservation Center LLC at the University of Nairobi in Kenya is an excellent example of what highly educated postharvest scientists can accomplish with small holder farmers in developing countries.

http://ntv.nation.co.ke/news/features/-/2720352/2720352/-/lc5u1vz/-/index.html

The World Food Preservation Center LLC has a number of well-qualified young students/scientists in developing countries that would like to receive advanced postharvest educations and return to their countries to establish independent programs that will enhance the lives of small holder farmers as can be seen in the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ohbscnh1poaggvw/AADrTU8xNzFJWgvL6TUsui0ga?dl=0

If the proposed establishment of "WFPC Postharvest Solutions Centers" is supported, these Centers would prove as models for the transfer of the latest postharvest technologies to small holder farmers in developing countries in a more sustainable way than many other programs that are dependent on the continual input of experts from the developed world.