This publication reports on a Coordinated Research Project demonstrating the potential of food irradiation to reduce losses of basic staple food crops, including yams, dried and smoked fish, potatoes and onions, through pilot scale experiments carried out in some African countries. Small scale market testing of irradiated food such as spices, potatoes and onions showed encouraging results. In some countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal and South Africa), it has proved feasible to establish commercial irradiation facilities for treatment of food. In Morocco, irradiation shows a potential to meet quarantine requirements in the international food trade.
