Post-Harvest Loss in Sub-Saharan Africa : What Do Farmers Say?
The 2007-2008 global food crisis has renewed interest in post-harvest loss, but estimates remain scarce, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper uses self-reported measures from nationally representative household surveys in Malawi, Uganda, an...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/04/19338535/post-harvest-loss-sub-saharan-africa-farmers-say http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17721 |
| Summary: | The 2007-2008 global food crisis has
renewed interest in post-harvest loss, but estimates remain
scarce, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper uses
self-reported measures from nationally representative
household surveys in Malawi, Uganda, and Tanzania. Overall,
on-farm post-harvest loss adds to 1.4-5.9 percent of the
national maize harvest, substantially lower than the Food
and Agriculture Organization's post-harvest handling
and storage loss estimate for cereals, which is 8 percent.
Post-harvest loss is concentrated among less than a fifth of
households. It increases with humidity and temperature and
declines with better market access, post-primary education,
higher seasonal price differences, and possibly improved
storage practices. Wider use of nationally representative
surveys in studying post-harvest loss is called for. |
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