Secondary postharvest education curricula for developing countries initiated by the WORLD FOOD PRESERVATION CENTER®LLC

According to Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) "There can be no escape from poverty without a vast expansion of secondary education. This is a minimum entitlement for equipping youth with the knowledge and skills they need to secure decent livelihoods in today's globalized world." Yet, two thirds of African children are effectively locked out of secondary school, according to a new UN report which cites secondary education as one of the next great development challenges facing many of the world's poorest countries.  The World Food Preservation Center® LLC (WFPC) recognizes that not only is it important to dramatically increase support for secondary education in developing countries we must also enrich and make relevant the curricula that students attending these schools receive. The WFPC through its network of twenty-eight major research universities and three major research institutes on six continents is developing food loss/safety/nutrition curricula for secondary schools in Africa, Latin American, and Asia.  Observing the back-breaking work endured by their parents and relatives in agriculture, young secondary school students in developing countries are not attracted to farming. Also, agricultural curricula in developing countries is lacking. The result being that secondary education students do not see a future for themselves in agriculture as a profession. Often over 50% of the food produced in developing countries is lost between the time it is harvested and consumed. This is enough food to feed two billion hungry individuals annually. The curriculum and texts being developed by the WFPC for secondary/vocational schools in developing countries focuses on knowledge that can be used to reduce these postharvest losses and ways that food can be kept safe and nutritious once harvested. Students acquiring this knowledge will be able to communicate it to their families and communities. Also, this newly acquired knowledge will make students appreciate the “science” of agriculture and its attractiveness as a future profession. If you would like to support or donate to this mission, you can do so through the non-profit 501 (c) (3) World Food Preservation Education Foundation. http://www.foodpreservationfoundation.org/index.html ContactCharles L. Wilson, Ph.D. World Food Preservation Center® LLC E-mail: mailto:worldfoodpreservationcenter@frontier.com Website: http://worldfoodpreservationcenter.com Phone: (304) 279-4029