Read the passage below carefully:
Across sub-Saharan Africa, smallholder cereal farming faces a silent crisis that severely undermines regional food security: post-harvest grain loss. While agricultural development policies have historically focused on increasing crop yields through high-yielding seed varieties and synthetic fertilizers, post-harvest losses due to pest infestation, mold, and inadequate storage facilities routinely destroy up to thirty percent of harvested grain before it reaches the market. This structural vulnerability disproportionately impacts smallholder farmers, forcing them to sell their produce immediately after harvest when market prices are lowest, only to repurchase staple grains at inflated prices during the lean season.
Recent intervention frameworks advocate for a paradigm shift toward cost-effective, decentralized post-harvest technologies, particularly hermetic storage bags and solar-powered drying units. Unlike conventional chemical treatments, which pose health risks and lose efficacy over time against resistant pest populations, hermetic storage creates an oxygen-deprived environment that naturally suffocates insect pests and prevents fungal contamination without chemical inputs. Field trials across West Africa demonstrate that adopting hermetic storage reduces post-harvest losses to under two percent over a twelve-month period, thereby stabilizing household income and enhancing local food reserves. However, widespread adoption remains constrained by limited access to rural microfinance and poorly integrated supply chains. Therefore, long-term food security depends not merely on boosting field productivity, but on systematically integrating post-harvest preservation into national agricultural strategy.
Which of the following statements best summarizes the central argument of the passage?
- AHermetic storage bags eliminate agricultural pests by creating an oxygen-deprived environment superior to chemical treatments.
- Achieving sustainable food security in sub-Saharan Africa requires integrating post-harvest preservation into national agricultural strategy alongside yield expansion.Cevap
- CSmallholder farmers suffer severe financial losses primarily because rural microfinance institutions refuse to fund chemical pesticides.
- DPost-harvest grain losses occur mainly because smallholder farmers sell their grain during the lean season when prices reach peak levels.