Large percentage of cereals and grains harvested in the Sub-Saharan Africa is lost due to pest attack and rotting as a result of the poor post-harvest management practices.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that one out of every five kilograms of grain produced in Sub-Saharan Africa is lost to pests and decay.

This therefore threatens food security in the respective countries even as they strive towards achieving food sustainable levels to feed their growing populations.

For instance, for 12 months, FAO asserts that the lost food can be used to feed a population of 48 million people.

In Kenya, farmers have started to mechanize the use of the mobile metal silos which can be used by the cereal or the grain growers as well as the produce traders.

The metal silo, which farmers in the Rift Valley, Western and the Central regions have already started to adopt, keeps away pests such as rats and the weevils.

It also minimizes contamination during the storage and the transportation duration.

"I am happy that we are now getting maize and wheat farmers from the far regions such as Western and the Central Province coming to buy these metal silos," Joseph Munene, the chairman of the Kabazi Jua Kali group which started making the metal silos in December 2012, told Xinhua on Friday.

"This is a good sign on adoption of better food storage methodologies," Munene added. The group is located in Nakuru County, which lies to the north western part of the Rift Valley region.

"We got the skills on the development of the metal silo after attending various Ministry of Agriculture trainings on proper crop post-harvest management activities. We were enlightened on how to cut the huge losses through the adoption of the efficient modern technologies and metal silo is one of them," he said.

The 25-member group makes the grain storage equipment using the stainless iron sheets and each one of them costs $174.81.

According to Munene, the metal silo can last for more than 10 years, unlike the sacks which are usable for a maximum of three years.

"You can store maize, wheat, beans, millet or sorghum without worrying of the notorious pests, contamination and rotting .All you need to do is dry them well and clean them before storage," Munene said.

Leonard Ochieng', the Nakuru County Director of Agriculture said reduction in the food losses among the farmers is key to ensuring there is enough food for consumption among the households.

"For instance, if the maize farmers lose their harvests to total decay because they were either rained on or exposed to moisture, that will be a great loss regardless of the total affected because it would have fed the family for a particular period of the year," Ochieng' said.

In the East African nation, monthly maize consumption rate continues to rise as the population bulges.

In 2010, the monthly consumption rate stood at 3.6 million bags of the 90 kilogram compared to 3.72 million bags in 2013.

These statistics from the Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development, Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture Think Tank policy arm, project a demand for more supply of maize.

"The ministry of agriculture is actively engaged in not only sensitizing the Kenyan farmers on ways of increasing their productivity but also on how to prevent any further losses incurred after harvesting," said the agriculture officer.