Introduction

The United Nations reports that for three years in a row, hunger figures have persistently remained elevated as worldwide crises intensify.

In 2023, approximately 733 million people faced hunger. That's 1 in 11 people worldwide, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Even more concerning, the estimated figures for undernourished individuals suggest that the world is significantly behind in meeting one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—Zero Hunger—by 2030.

Among the major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition; climate variability and extremes, economic slowdowns and downturns, and escalation in conflicts in recent years have significantly worsened global hunger levels.

Ongoing conflicts across the globe have significantly worsened global hunger levels. These conflicts disrupt food production and supply chains, leading to shortages and increased prices. Additionally, conflicts often displace populations, making it difficult for people to access food and resources. As a result, millions face food insecurity, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and hindering efforts to achieve global food security.

Despite this grim picture, GrainPro believes that providing climate-smart and sustainable post-harvest solutions can positively influence five of the Sustainable Development Goals:

  • SDG 1

    No Poverty

  • SDG 2

    Zero Hunger

  • SDG 5

    Gender Equality

  • SDG 12

    Responsible Consumption and Production

  • SDG 13

    Climate Action.

Impact to Date (2010 -2024)

2,845,847

Farmers Served

1,030,749
Farmers in Africa

1,603,671
Farmers in Asia

211,427
Farmers in Latin America

432,279,133 kg

Lifetime Crops Saved

23,439 kg
Lifetime Phosphine Prevented

$ 304,707
saved from Phosphine Prevention

$129,683,740

Lifetime Value Saved

17,075,079
Beneficiaries

55.56

metric tons of GrainPro Bags

 

88.9

metric tons of TranSafeliners

2024 Impact

191,047

Farmers Served

25,444
Farmers in Africa

159,707
Farmers in Asia

5,897
Farmers in Latin America

11,066,517 kg

Crops Saved

1,392 kg
Phosphine Prevented

$3,319,955

Value Saved

1,146,282
Beneficiaries

18

metric tons of GrainPro Bags

 

56.2

metric tons of TranSafeliners

Aligning with Sustainable Development Goals

GrainPro's commitment to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals helps guide current and future actions that create positive impacts in communities, improve operational efficiency, and foster long-term resilience while addressing global challenges such as climate change, poverty, and hunger.

Sustainable Development Goal 1:

No Poverty

Achieving the UN's SDG 1: No Poverty is essential for several reasons. First, it addresses the root causes of poverty, which can lead to improved health, education, and economic opportunities for individuals and communities. By eradicating extreme poverty, we can reduce inequalities and promote social cohesion, which is vital for political stability and peace.
Moreover, eliminating poverty contributes to economic growth. When people have access to resources and opportunities, they can participate fully in the economy, driving demand for goods and services. This, in turn, creates jobs and fosters sustainable development.

GrainPro's work with smallholder farmer communities significantly contributes to achieving

SDG 1: No Poverty by enhancing their productivity and income. By providing access to innovative drying and storage solutions as well as training, GrainPro helps farmers reduce post-harvest losses, ensuring they can sell more of their produce at higher prices later on after harvest season. This not only increases their earnings but also improves food security in their communities, creating a positive cycle that lifts families out of poverty and fosters sustainable development.

Sustainable Development Goal 2:

Zero Hunger

The focus of SDG 2 is to end hunger, food insecurity,and malnutrition in all its forms. Progress toward a world without hunger has been affected by the confluence of crises which can only be addressed through the engagement and collaboration of multiple stakeholders.
FAO recommends transformation of food systems to adapt and build resilience of farming communities and agri-businesses.

GrainPro continues to contribute significantlytowards building resilient food systems along the food value chain through developing cost-effective, easy to use, and accessible agricultural solutions – drying, storage, and transportation. Through better post-harvest systems, communities can ensure that they have year-round access to safe and nutritious food.

Sustainable Development Goal 3:

Gender Equality

Achieving gender equality is a fundamental human right and is crucial for fostering a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable global society. When all individuals have equal opportunities, it enhances creativity and innovation, driving better business outcomes. Despite the fact that the world is currently not on course to achieve gender equality by the year 2030, notable progress has been made over the past few decades.

As an international organization dedicated to sustainability, GrainPro asserts that its continued growth is attainable by ensuring that all employees are afforded equal opportunities for advancement, professional development, and success, regardless of gender, race, or cultural background.

GrainPro employs a diverse and committed workforce, drawing talented individuals from various cultures and countries around the globe. The organization also extends an invitation to those interested in collaboration to join efforts in working towards a future with greater food security.

Sustainable Development Goal 12:

Responsible Consumption and Production

Incorporating sustainable practices in its operations is an undertaking that GrainPro takes seriously. With multiple measures in place, GrainPro is positioned to become a leader in environmental stewardship in the hermetic solutions industry.

One such measure is GrainPro’s own Plastic Fantastic facility. This plastic recycling project is a part of the push to contribute to the betterment of our environment. GrainPro has also developed the GrainPro Compostable Pouch, an award-winning product aimed to encourage end-users to divert their waste from landfills and instead conduct home composting.

Finally, GrainPro partners with entities such as Gargeon and Neumann Kaffee Gruppe to help manage end-stage waste and divert plastics from landfills and oceans. (More information can be found in the Partnerships section).

Sustainable Development Goal 13:

Climate Action

Climate change has significantly impacted food systems worldwide by altering weather patterns, reducing crop yields, and increasing the frequency of extreme weather events. These changes lead to food insecurity, as farmers struggle with unpredictable growing conditions, lean harvests and pests. As a result, communities face heightened risks of hunger and malnutrition, emphasizing the urgent need for sustainable practices and adaptive strategies in food production.

According to the UN, food loss and waste account for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions each year. GrainPro hopes to help reduce this number by continuing to develop and provide climate-resilient food storage and transport solutions.

GrainPro’s hermetic solutions are especially important to smallholder farming communities because they are one of the most vulnerable groups that can be affected by climate change.

Partnerships in Achieving Greater Positive Impact

When the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015, it was clear that to make significant progress, collective and collaborative effort was the pathway to deliver a better future for all.

The world’s food systems stand at the center of the SDGs and have been faced with disruptions since, necessitating transformation to become more sustainable, efficient, and resilient for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life. Among the pathways to transformation is a flexible and innovative approach to partnerships for all stakeholders, implemented at national level.

GrainPro acknowledges and endeavors to forge strategic partnerships for meaningful impact. Partnerships to support interventions for country governments, with private sector and non-profits. The role of governments cannot be overemphasized as they have the responsibility of ensuring their citizens have access to sufficient, affordable, and nutritious food, as well as promoting sustainable agriculture. A focus on a few of these partnerships are below.

Public Sector Partnerships

In Africa

Drying is a crucial and indispensable component in the effort to reduce post-harvest losses. GrainPro is dedicated to providing accessible, efficient, and safe drying solutions tailored to meet the needs of farmers, whether they operate individually or in groups.

In a significant initiative, GrainPro Africa has supplied Solar Bubble Dryers to the governments of Kenya and Liberia, with smallholder farmers as the primary beneficiaries. These innovative dryers boast capacities ranging from 500 kilograms to 1 metric ton, capable of drying a diverse array of commodities, including grains, pulses, vegetables, and spices.

In Liberia, this initiative was executed in partnership with private sector businesses acting as GrainPro representatives. To ensure optimal performance and user satisfaction, GrainPro offers comprehensive training to end users and conducts follow-up sessions to guarantee the effective and efficient utilization of the solar dryers.

Public Sector Partnerships

In Bangladesh

In a significant move to bolster food security and support smallholder farmers, the government of Bangladesh in 2024 acquired 3,000 GrainPro GrainSafe storage solutions. This initiative underscores the government's dedication to enhancing agricultural resilience through innovation and collaboration. These solutions can safeguard a season's harvest, ensuring that farmers can store their produce safely and reduce post-harvest losses. This not only secures the livelihoods of individual farmers but also strengthens the food supply chain, benefiting entire communities.

By fostering collaboration between government agencies and local businesses, this initiative is a testament to the power of public-private partnerships in driving sustainable agricultural development.

Public Sector Partnerships

In the Philippines

This year, through the support of the local government, GrainPro successfully delivered more than 350 Collapsible Dryer Cases and Solar Bubble Dryers to various cooperatives and associations of smallholder farmers across the Philippines.

Equipped with this innovative technology, farmers in remote regions and those lacking adequate drying facilities can now process their harvests with enhanced safety and efficiency, ensuring better quality and reduced post-harvest losses.

Private Sector Partnerships

GrainPro proudly highlights its ongoing strategic partnership with Food 4 Farmers, a collaboration that has been instrumental in transforming the agricultural landscape for rural communities and smallholder coffee farmers in Latin America since 2021. By combining Food 4 Farmers' expertise in pre-harvest strategies with GrainPro's innovative post-harvest solutions, this partnership has empowered farmers to combat seasonal hunger. This synergy has not only bolstered food security but also improved the livelihoods of countless families, enabling them to work hard in providing quality coffee and strengthening food security in their own communities with greater resilience and hope for the future.

GrainPro and Neumann Kaffee Gruppe’s partnership continuously boosts sustainability within the coffee community, providing an accessible option for the proper recycling of used GrainPro Hermetic Bags and other coffee liners.

This recycling project was first launched in 2023 in the United States, and in collaboration with Continental Terminals, has gathered and recycled more than 55 tons of used liners.

Following the continuous success, the project expanded to Europe in 2024 and opened its doors through NKG Kala Hamburg. While hermetic bags can be disposed of through conventional yellow bins, the GrainPro and Neumann Kaffee Gruppe recycling project aims to provide the Europe-based coffee community an option that ensures collected bags get 100% recycled.

Join the sustainability journey through the links below.
US link or EU link.

GrainPro partnered with Gargeon, a Malaysia-based leader in the modernization of the waste management industry,  to promote sustainability through optimized collection and recycling. This collaboration offers more individuals an accessible option to recycle their waste and used solutions, including those for chemical-free post-harvest processing like the TranSafeliner.

In 2024, GrainPro and Gargeon helped recycle more than 56 metric tons of  TranSafeliners. To date, the total recycled liners amount to 88.9 metric tons.

GrainPro proudly supplies hermetic bags toFood4Education (F4E) in Kenya, a social enterprise that has significantly enhanced the nutritional quality and affordability of school meals as well as the scalability of affordable school feedings. By utilizing GrainPro's innovative hermetic bags, F4E’s essential ingredients such as rice and mung beans are preserved with optimal freshness and nutritional value, ensuring that students receive wholesome and balanced meals. Through their work, F4E not only safeguards the quality of the food but also alleviates the concerns of parents and educators who strive to provide the best for their children. As a result, students are better nourished, more focused, and ready to learn.

Future Actions

GrainPro plans to continue increasing the positive impact its solutions and services bring to smallholder farmer communities and the wider community as a whole. Through better post-harvest systems, food producers all over the world can reduce food loss, strengthen food security, and improve the quality of their crops.

With a focus on sustainability and accessibility, GrainPro is guided by 5 Core Cs:

Collection & Recycling

The goal is to establish collection and recycling centers in each country where we operate. This initiative has begun and will remain a key priority for GrainPro.

Circularity

Enhancing the traceability and reusability of GrainPro solutions can contribute to minimizing environmental impact.

Compostability

By creating compostable options, GrainPro can encourage eco-friendly practices while maintaining the quality of stored goods.

Carbon Footprint

GrainPro is dedicated to collecting data on its carbon footprint to implement effective strategies for reducing and offsetting carbon emissions.

Create

Developing new solutions or transforming current ones into more sustainable versions is a crucial future step for GrainPro.

 Along with the 5 Core Cs, GrainPro also follows 3 Support Cs:

Climate -smart

Implementing climate-smart solutions and manufacturing processes can reduce the impact of climate change on both communities and GrainPro itself.

Communication

GrainPro consistently aims to maintain transparency in its communication and accessibility across all its platforms.

Certification

GrainPro has actively pursued certification from reputable organizations to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability both now and in the future.

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