Launch of the “Pull Push” project

On 29 March 2022, the International Livestock Research Institute with its partners marks official launch of the “Pull-Push” project, a consumer communication campaign in Dire Dawa and Harar cities of Ethiopia.
“Eat safe tomatoes” is the key message of the integrated Media, Digital and Door to Door campaign, aimed at households of Dire Dawa and Harar, pilot region of the project. Next to the consumer campaign new packaging material for transport will be introduced and chain partners will be trained to increase the number of intact tomatoes at the sales locations in the region.
Worldwide, more than 2 billion people fall ill each year from the food they eat. Foodborne diseases are a major public health problem, that affects local farmers, but also families that buy food products. Women have an important role in the prevention of foodborne diseases, by buying and handling food products optimally. In the Pull-Push project, we support informal markets to provide safer tomatoes and we empower women to make an optimal choice in buying products and handling tomatoes safely.
After thorough investigation and research, the main conclusion is that tomatoes can be the cause of foodborne diseases, especially if severely bruised tomatoes are bought and not well processed in meals. Lab analysis by a risk-based approach shows that severely damaged tomatoes should better not be used for home cooking, since the risk of foodborne diseases, directly or by cross-contamination, is too high.