ProvisionGard™: Insect - Blocking Package Technology

ProvisionGard™ : Protects your products, protect your brand.

ProvisionGard™ is a postharvest protection technology that incorporates an insect growth regulator (IGR) into the outer layer of food packaging to prevent stored-product insect infestation without direct contact with the food. It can protect packaged maize and wheat flour, rice, cereals, pasta and other dry staple foods during storage, distribution and retail. The technology can be integrated into existing packaging, filling and distribution systems without major operational changes, making it relevant for government programmes seeking practical approaches to reduce postharvest food losses, protect food quality and strengthen the resilience of staple food supply chains. In a six-month commercial trial in Kenya involving 120,000 maize flour packets, treated packets showed no infestation throughout the monitoring period, while untreated packets experienced persistent infestation from month five onwards.

This technology is pre-validated.

8•8

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 8/9

Positive impacts: 12

Intersectional group	Positive impacts
Low-income women entrepreneurs in climate-vulnerable food supply chains	Loss reduction: Reduces insect-related spoilage, rejected stock and returns, helping protect limited business resources. Income protection: Helps preserve the value of processed food products and reduce avoidable financial losses. Operational simplicity: Provides protection without requiring major changes to existing filling, storage or distribution practices.
Youth entrepreneurs in climate-vulnerable food supply chains	Business resilience: Reduces inventory losses and helps young businesses protect their working capital. Market opportunity: Creates opportunities for youth-led food-processing, packaging and distribution businesses to adopt or supply improved packaging solutions. Low infrastructure needs: Can be integrated into existing operations without major investment in new equipment or cold-chain infrastructure.
Low-income and resource-constrained food businesses and households	Food retention: Helps prevent packaged staple foods from being discarded because of insect infestation. Household savings: Helps protect the value of food purchased by households by reducing infestation-related waste. Accessible protection: Provides continuous protection without requiring cold storage or repeated treatment.
Climate-vulnerable food-system actors	Storage protection: Helps protect packaged dry foods under warm and humid conditions that favour insect development. Supply-chain resilience: Reduces vulnerability to insect-related losses during storage, distribution and retail. Resource conservation: Preventing food loss helps retain the land, water, energy and agricultural inputs invested in producing that food.

More...

Unintended impacts: 12
Mitigations: 12

Barriers: 12
Mitigations: 12

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

It performs effectively across diverse climatic conditions, including warm and humid environments, without requiring specific weather conditions or cold-chain infrastructure.

Water use: Much less water used

The technology helps reduce water wastage by preventing the loss of already produced food, avoiding the need to use additional water to replace discarded food.

Biodiversity: Not verified

No evidence is provided in the available technical documents on the technology’s direct impact on biodiversity.

Environmental health: Not verified

No evidence is provided in the available technical documents on the technology’s direct impact on environmental health.

Problem

Postharvest food losses after processing: Food can be lost even after grains and other staples have been successfully processed and packaged.
Reduced food availability: Infestation removes already-produced food from the supply available for consumption.
Food-security risks: Losses of staple foods such as maize, rice and flour can reduce the effective availability of essential foods.
Weaknesses in storage and distribution systems: Products may remain vulnerable to insects throughout warehouses, distribution networks and retail systems.
Wasted public and agricultural resources: When food is discarded after processing, the land, water, inputs and other resources used to produce it are also effectively wasted.

Solution

Postharvest loss reduction: ProvisionGard™ protects packaged staple foods from insect infestation during storage and distribution, helping reduce losses after processing and packaging.
Food availability: By protecting packaged maize, rice, flour and other dry foods, the technology helps retain more already-produced food for consumption.
Supply-chain protection: ProvisionGard™ provides continuous protection across warehouses, distribution networks, retail outlets and household storage.
Easy adoption: The technology can be integrated into existing food-processing and distribution systems without major changes to filling, handling or consumer practices.
Reduced infrastructure needs: ProvisionGard™ requires neither cold-chain infrastructure nor additional re-treatment after packaging.
Food quality protection: Because the IGR treatment is incorporated into the outer layer of the packaging, it does not come into direct contact with the food.

Key points to design your project

ProvisionGard™ provides governments with a postharvest protection technology that can be integrated into food packaging to reduce stored-product insect infestation in packaged staple foods. By maintaining protection during storage and distribution, the technology supports food-loss reduction and improved food availability across staple-food supply chains.

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Prioritize deployment in food supply chains where packaged maize, wheat flour, rice, cereals, and other dry foods experience significant stored-product insect infestation and associated losses.
Integrate ProvisionGard™ into postharvest management, food-loss reduction, food-security, and staple-food value-chain programmes where packaged foods require protection during storage and distribution.
Target millers, food processors, packaging manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and other actors involved in the production and movement of packaged staple foods.
Establish partnerships with ProvisionGard™, packaging manufacturers, food processors, millers, relevant food-safety and regulatory authorities, and other value-chain actors to support testing, application, and implementation.
Monitor the number of treated packages, food products protected, infestation rates, product losses and returns, shelf-life performance, and food retained for consumption to evaluate impact and guide future investment.
Support local validation and demonstration activities before scale-up, as the provider recommends testing the additive to confirm that it processes and performs as required in the intended packaging application.

3.50 USD per 1,000 packets treated

Treatment costs

IP

Patent granted, Trademark

1. Product Identification & Chemical Nature

Product Name: ProvisionGard™ PGT IGR 30000/A Liquid Polymer Additive, formulated with a patented insect growth regulator for controlling stored-product insects in food packaging.
Chemical Name: Terpenes and terpenoids, limonene fractionated, polymer with terpenes and terpenoids.
CAS Number: 65733-16-6.
Composition: Active substance IGR 30000/A at 94% and impurities at ≤ 6%.
Regulatory Status: EPA registered (EPA Reg. No. 81390-2 and 81390-4) and compliant with FDA regulations for food contact under 40 CFR 180.1033.

2. Physical & Chemical Properties

Appearance & Odor: Clear, transparent amber liquid with a fruity odor.
Density & Specific Gravity: Specific gravity of 0.9211 to 0.93 at 25 °C (water = 1) and a bulk density of 0.9261 g/cm³ at 20 °C.
Boiling Point: 100 °C at 0.05 mm Hg (or 110 °C at 0.1 mm Hg / 386 °C at 760 mm Hg).
Vapor Pressure: 3.15 mPa (or 5.74 hPa) at 25 °C.
Viscosity: Similar to olive oil (< 100 cP at 20 °C).
Solubility: 0.515 ppm to 1.4 mg/L in water (practically insoluble), but completely miscible with all common organic solvents.
Flammability & Flash Point: Not flammable; flash point of 136 °C (Pensky Martens closed cup) or 187 °C (open cup).

3. Application & Processing

Target Packaging & Foods: Designed for dry food packaging (cereals, pet food, animal feed, rice, bird seed, flour, and bakery mixes) in multilayer bags, stand-up pouches, and film wrapping.
Solvent Addition Rate: Recommended dosage of 1% based on the % solids portion only, not the total batch weight of the adhesive.
Solventless Addition Rate: Added to the B (curative) side to equal 0.5% of the total batch mix.
Compatibility: Blends easily with all adhesive types with no separation over time.

4. Toxicological & Environmental Profile

Acute Toxicity: Low acute toxicity with oral LD50 (rat) > 34,000 mg/kg, dermal LD50 (rabbit) > 5,000 mg/kg, and inhalation LC50 (rat) = 5.19 mg/L.
Skin/Eye Irritation: Rated as essentially non-irritating to eyes and skin.
Ecotoxicity: Toxic to aquatic invertebrates and organisms, with a 96-hour LC50 of 0.76 mg/L for Rainbow Trout and a 48-hour LC50 of 0.36 mg/L for Daphnia magna.
Environmental Degradation: Rapidly degrades in sunlight and metabolizes in soil under aerobic and anaerobic conditions with a half-life of 10 to 14 days. It does not persist in soil or leach into groundwater.

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology's development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology's readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 8 out of 9

Used by some intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Positive impact 12

Intersectional group	Positive impacts
Low-income women entrepreneurs in climate-vulnerable food supply chains	Loss reduction: Reduces insect-related spoilage, rejected stock and returns, helping protect limited business resources. Income protection: Helps preserve the value of processed food products and reduce avoidable financial losses. Operational simplicity: Provides protection without requiring major changes to existing filling, storage or distribution practices.
Youth entrepreneurs in climate-vulnerable food supply chains	Business resilience: Reduces inventory losses and helps young businesses protect their working capital. Market opportunity: Creates opportunities for youth-led food-processing, packaging and distribution businesses to adopt or supply improved packaging solutions. Low infrastructure needs: Can be integrated into existing operations without major investment in new equipment or cold-chain infrastructure.
Low-income and resource-constrained food businesses and households	Food retention: Helps prevent packaged staple foods from being discarded because of insect infestation. Household savings: Helps protect the value of food purchased by households by reducing infestation-related waste. Accessible protection: Provides continuous protection without requiring cold storage or repeated treatment.
Climate-vulnerable food-system actors	Storage protection: Helps protect packaged dry foods under warm and humid conditions that favour insect development. Supply-chain resilience: Reduces vulnerability to insect-related losses during storage, distribution and retail. Resource conservation: Preventing food loss helps retain the land, water, energy and agricultural inputs invested in producing that food.

Unintended impact 12

Intersectional group	Unintended impacts	Mitigation measures
Low-income women entrepreneurs in climate-vulnerable food supply chains	Access inequality: Women-led micro and small enterprises may have less access to suppliers offering treated packaging. Cost pressure: Even a small increase in packaging costs may be significant for businesses operating on narrow margins. Limited decision-making: Women working within larger supply chains may have limited influence over packaging procurement decisions.	Inclusive supply: Make treated packaging available through local suppliers and women’s business networks. Cost transparency: Provide clear cost-benefit information and facilitate collective or bulk purchasing. Inclusive procurement: Engage women entrepreneurs in packaging procurement and adoption decisions.
Youth entrepreneurs in climate-vulnerable food supply chains	Supplier access: Young businesses may lack established relationships with packaging manufacturers. Financial pressure: Limited start-up capital may make higher packaging costs difficult to absorb. Market concentration: Larger processors may adopt the technology more easily than small youth-led businesses.	Supplier linkages: Connect youth enterprises with qualified packaging manufacturers and distributors. Financial support: Link adoption with agribusiness finance and entrepreneurship programmes where appropriate. SME access: Encourage suppliers to offer suitable quantities and pricing for small businesses.
Low-income and resource-constrained food businesses and households	Price increase: Additional packaging costs could potentially be passed on to consumers. Unequal availability: Treated products may initially be concentrated in formal or urban markets. Overreliance: Users may assume treated packaging eliminates all storage and pest-management risks.	Affordability monitoring: Assess the effect of treatment costs on retail prices and consumer affordability. Inclusive distribution: Include low-income and underserved markets in product distribution strategies. User guidance: Communicate that appropriate hygiene, storage and handling practices remain necessary.
Climate-vulnerable food-system actors	Variable performance: Effectiveness may vary with insect species, climate, packaging type and storage conditions. False resilience: Users may view the technology as a complete solution to climate-related storage risks. Unequal adoption: Resource-constrained actors may have less capacity to access improved packaging.	Local testing: Validate performance across different climates, insect species and packaging formats. Integrated management: Combine ProvisionGard™ with appropriate storage, hygiene and pest-management practices. Targeted support: Include vulnerable businesses in public and development-partner adoption programmes.

Intersectional group

Unintended impacts

Mitigation measures

Low-income women entrepreneurs in climate-vulnerable food supply chains

Access inequality: Women-led micro and small enterprises may have less access to suppliers offering treated packaging.

Cost pressure: Even a small increase in packaging costs may be significant for businesses operating on narrow margins.

Limited decision-making: Women working within larger supply chains may have limited influence over packaging procurement decisions.

Inclusive supply: Make treated packaging available through local suppliers and women’s business networks.

Cost transparency: Provide clear cost-benefit information and facilitate collective or bulk purchasing.

Inclusive procurement: Engage women entrepreneurs in packaging procurement and adoption decisions.

Youth entrepreneurs in climate-vulnerable food supply chains

Supplier access: Young businesses may lack established relationships with packaging manufacturers.

Financial pressure: Limited start-up capital may make higher packaging costs difficult to absorb.

Market concentration: Larger processors may adopt the technology more easily than small youth-led businesses.

Supplier linkages: Connect youth enterprises with qualified packaging manufacturers and distributors.

Financial support: Link adoption with agribusiness finance and entrepreneurship programmes where appropriate.

SME access: Encourage suppliers to offer suitable quantities and pricing for small businesses.

Low-income and resource-constrained food businesses and households

Price increase: Additional packaging costs could potentially be passed on to consumers.

Unequal availability: Treated products may initially be concentrated in formal or urban markets.

Overreliance: Users may assume treated packaging eliminates all storage and pest-management risks.

Affordability monitoring: Assess the effect of treatment costs on retail prices and consumer affordability.

Inclusive distribution: Include low-income and underserved markets in product distribution strategies.

User guidance: Communicate that appropriate hygiene, storage and handling practices remain necessary.

Climate-vulnerable food-system actors

Variable performance: Effectiveness may vary with insect species, climate, packaging type and storage conditions.

False resilience: Users may view the technology as a complete solution to climate-related storage risks.

Unequal adoption: Resource-constrained actors may have less capacity to access improved packaging.

Local testing: Validate performance across different climates, insect species and packaging formats.

Integrated management: Combine ProvisionGard™ with appropriate storage, hygiene and pest-management practices.

Targeted support: Include vulnerable businesses in public and development-partner adoption programmes.

Barriers 12

Intersectional group	Barriers	Mitigation measures
Low-income women entrepreneurs in climate-vulnerable food supply chains	Limited awareness: Entrepreneurs may have limited knowledge of packaging-based insect protection. Limited purchasing power: Minimum order quantities or upfront costs may constrain adoption. Limited local evidence: Entrepreneurs may need evidence from comparable businesses and storage conditions before investing.	Targeted outreach: Use women’s enterprise networks, processor associations and practical demonstrations. Flexible procurement: Support smaller order sizes and pooled purchasing arrangements. Local evidence: Generate and share results from relevant African markets and business settings.
Youth entrepreneurs in climate-vulnerable food supply chains	Technical knowledge gaps: Young businesses may lack knowledge of IGR-treated packaging and its application. Limited finance: New enterprises may struggle to finance initial procurement. Limited market credibility: New businesses may find it difficult to demonstrate the value of improved packaging to customers.	Technical training: Provide simple guidance and practical training on the technology. Finance linkages: Connect eligible enterprises with entrepreneurship and agribusiness support programmes. Verified information: Provide credible performance, safety and cost information for use with customers.
Low-income and resource-constrained food businesses and households	Affordability: Users may prioritize conventional packaging because of its lower upfront cost. Limited availability: Treated packaging may not be readily accessible in local markets. Limited information: Consumers and small retailers may not understand the technology or its value.	Cost-effective formats: Promote affordable packaging formats and demonstrate the value of reduced losses. Local distribution: Expand availability through local packaging manufacturers and distributors. Consumer awareness: Provide simple information explaining the purpose and appropriate use of the technology.
Climate-vulnerable food-system actors	High pest pressure: Severe infestation conditions may require complementary pest-management measures. Limited contextual evidence: Performance data may be insufficient across all African climates and storage systems. Weak packaging infrastructure: Some vulnerable areas may have limited access to suitable packaging suppliers.	Integrated protection: Combine ProvisionGard™ with appropriate storage hygiene and pest-management practices. Field validation: Generate evidence across diverse agroecological and storage environments. Supply-chain development: Strengthen local packaging manufacturing, distribution and supplier networks.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

The technology helps reduce insect-related losses in packaged staple foods, keeping more food available for consumption.

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

The technology helps protect the commercial value of packaged food and reduce losses from rejected and returned stock, supporting more efficient food supply-chain operations.

Goal 12: responsible production and consumption

By reducing the disposal of food already produced, processed, packaged, and distributed, ProvisionGard™ helps reduce waste of resources embedded in food production and supply chains.

Goal 13: climate action

Reducing avoidable food loss also helps avoid wasting the land, water, inputs, and other resources already used to produce food that would otherwise need to be replaced.

Key recommendations

Use ProvisionGard™ for packaged dry foods such as maize and wheat flour, rice, cereals, pasta, and other dry foods.
Use qualified packaging printers or converters to incorporate the treatment during normal packaging production.
Validate the treatment on the intended packaging system before commercial use to confirm processing and performance.
Follow the recommended addition rate for the adhesive system and consult ProvisionGard before application.
Use the treated packaging through normal filling, storage, distribution, retail, and household handling without cold-chain storage or re-treatment.

Step 1 – Incorporate ProvisionGard into the packaging

The packaging printer or converter incorporates ProvisionGard™ into the packaging during normal printing or production. The treatment is applied to the outer layer of the package and does not come into direct contact with the food.

Step 2 – Apply the recommended formulation rate

The treatment is added according to the adhesive system used. The Product Data Sheet recommends 1% of the solids portion for solvent-based applications and 0.5% of the total batch mix for solventless applications.