About Us

The Ethiopian Society of Post-Harvest Management (ESPHM) was established under Charities and Societies Proclamation number 621/2001 article 68(1) and registered as Ethiopian society on June 09, 2016.  Following the reform of the EFDRE Civil Society Organization Authority, the ESPHM was re-registered and accorded legal personality with registry number 3648 on February 20, 2020 as local organization in accordance with Civil Societies Organization proclamation No. 1113/2019, article 88(3). The office of the society is located in Addis Ababa (at Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research-EIAR). The society is led by an executive committee (EC) having seven members, manager and an internal auditor. The EC members are elected by the general assembly of the society every two years. The committee is getting support from advisory board members established from different institutions. 

Vision

  • We aspire to see a transformed standard postharvest management and food safety practices in food and agriculture system of Ethiopia by 2050. 

Mission

  • Our mission is through professional commitment, collaborations, education, training and innovations to support the transformation of food and agriculture system of the country by providing technical supports, creating networking opportunities, and platforms to share knowledge and best practices. 

Core values

  • We trust that decisions in our society are clear and independent. 
  • We believe that our publications and deliberations are of high quality through peer review and are oriented to solve problems related to post-harvest management. 
  • We believe that the society has a stake in the development of the food and agriculture system of the country. 
  • We respect society members and frontline workers. 
  • We give due recognition to our sponsors, collaborators and partners. 
  • We give due respect to our clients (private, public and social clients). 
  • We respect indigenous knowledge and build on that for improving the country’s Agriculture, and hence improve the livelihoods of the community and boost the economy.  
  • We trust that executive committee members of the society follow professionalism and are dependable and responsible for their actions to their members.

Roles 

The society has the following roles to attain its objectives 

•Involve in advocacy – work and lobby on policy influence in food and agriculture system with a an emphasis to contribute for improved postharvest management practices to reduce food loss, ensure food safety and enhance economic contribution and environment protection.  

•Involve in policy development concerning food safety, quality and postharvest management

•Development Guideline: involve in developing and establishing postharvest management guides, industry standards, ethical guidelines, and best practices.

•Involve in continuous learning – support and promote continuous involvement on education and training for transformation of postharvest management practices from tradition to standard practices. 

•Organize workshops, conferences and platforms – organize events for promotion, knowledge and skill sharing, networking on postharvest management areas. 

•Networking and Collaboration – create platforms for professionals and stakeholders to connect, collaborate and share ideas. 

•Mobilize resource- mobilize resources from different sources and utilize for effective and efficient implementations of the society objectives.  Based on availability of the fund, the society will provide grants, scholarships, and resources for research and innovation. 

•Professional Recognition- provides recognition for outstanding society members, development partners, government institutions, individuals and other stakeholders for their contribution in postharvest management areas. 

•Public Relations- Promote the profession's image and importance through media and community engagement.

•Voice for members – represent the interest and concerns of its members at local, national and international levels. 

The society has strong linkages with government sectors, national and international development partners, and private sectors working in the areas of post-harvest management. The ESPHM members are also contributing technically to the development of different national strategies, such as postharvest management strategy, food safety and quality strategy of agricultural products, and nutrition-sensitive agri-food systems strategy. The ESPHM is working with the All Africa Postharvest Harvest Congress and Exhibition (AAPHCE).