INTERPAKS, This paper is concerned with the transfer of post-harvest technologies to small farmers as part of the total rural development effort. Post-harvest systems needs to be tailored to the needs of the people it serves. Professional development technicians and politicians are now paying increased attention to small farmer problems, characterized as having limited access to productive services, technical assistance, income and political influence. The job of improving the welfare of small farmers through the transfer of technologies to reduce post-harvest losses is difficult; the small farmer is not usually a likely candidate to adopt innovations, assuming they are available and appropriate, since he cannot afford the inherent risk. Recent studies also suggest that low adoption rates are the result of the new technologies being appropriate for small farm situations and hence an alternative approach - that of adjusting production and distribution technology to the social and economic system of a given rural area - is gaining some acceptance. The problem of increasing income and food production, and improving nutritional levels on small farms, must be approached from a base of existing farm systems, in terms of applying appropriate, practical post-harvest technological innovations, In addition, an improved agricultural extension or technical assistance systems is considered essential for transferring the appropriate pos-harvest technologies to small farmers. Several step are suggested as a means to solving this problem, and a possible plan of action is outlined.
