For fresh, high-moisture perishable crops, maintaining quality requires specialized infrastructure tailored to each commodity's specific needs:

  • Improved Ventilated Yam Barns (IVYB): Built with thatch roofs and mesh walls on a 0.8-meter dwarf concrete wall to keep rodents out. Wooden parts should be treated for termites and sprouts/rotten tubers removed routinely.
  • Cassava Warehouses & Root Trenches: Store fresh cassava roots for up to 12 weeks using damp sawdust or layered palm fronds in well-drained trenches with a low water table.
  • Diffused Light Stores (DLS): Designed for seed potatoes, these structures use filtered light to reduce greening and control heat buildup.
  • Evaporative Cooling Structures (ECS): Double-walled containers separated by wet, porous padding. As water evaporates from the padding, it lowers temperature and raises humidity, keeping fruits and vegetables fresh.