Exhibition 'Leafpad - Banana leaves as an innovative packaging solution' in TU Delft Hortus Botanicus
Using banana leaves as sustainable packaging solutions to combat post-harvest losses, a graduation project by Industrial Design graduate Anna Koper.
Post-harvest vegetable losses in Ghana can reach up to 50%, depending on the crop, threatening farmers' financial security. Limited packaging practices, combined with climate, transport issues, and inadequate storage, result in short shelf lives for produce. Anna's graduation thesis aims to design a simple, affordable, and locally feasible packaging solution to reduce these losses. After extensive research with local stakeholders, Anna developed the Leafpad: a transport protection sheet made from banana leaves for tomatoes in crates. The Leafpad, placed between layers of tomatoes, absorbs shocks and prevents direct contact between fruits, reducing damage, contamination, and losses while increasing farmers' income.
