Food Loss
Food losses occurring between harvest and retail sale, also know as post-harvest losses, is a key challenge undermining food security and income generation in many countries in the world especially in developing countries.
Post-harvest losses have significant nutritional, environmental, and financial impacts for both farmers and consumers. Thus, by preventing losses at the early stages in food supply chains, we can increase the availability of food without requiring additional resources or placing additional burden on the environment. Thus, harvest and post-harvest loss reduction is of high importance in an effort to combat hunger, raise income and improve food security and livelihoods for vulnerable people.
Post-harvest operations:
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Harvest
Post-harvest food losses - occurring at the production, harvest, post-harvest and processing phases are the most important source of FLW in developing countries.
Key factors:
- Due to poor infrastructure,
- Poor temperature management,
- Low levels of technology
- Low investment in the food production systems, especially the cold chain.
Food commodity:
Grading
In the case of fruits and vegetables, according to an FAO studies losses at harvest and during sorting and grading dominate in industrialized regions, probably mostly due to discarding during grading to meet quality standards set by retailers.
Key Factors:
- Poor understanding of harvest indices of plant foods and how maturity is related to quality and shelf life.
- Poor sorting and grading practices during preparation for market,
- Allowing damaged /decaying foods to enter the supply chain and to spread decay to other foods.
- Over-sorting and over-grading on the farm and in the packinghouse,
- Strict guidelines that have more to do with appearance (color, size, shape) than nutritional value or eating quality, leading to higher discards of edible foods.
Food commodity:
Handling
Inadequate storage facilities and poor handling practices were also named among the main causes of on-farm storage losses. For fruits, roots and tubers, packaging and transportation also appear to be critical.
Key Factors:
- Poor temperature management and lack of control of relative humidity, leading to shriveling, wilting and deterioration of perishable foods.
- Poor quality packages which provide little or no protection during handling, transport and storage.
- Delays in transport to market without proper storage (cool storage for perishables, drying of staple grains/beans/legumes before storage).
- General lack of education on appropriate post-harvest handling practices and technologies, leading to rough handling, mechanical damage, improperly handled mixed loads, and food safety concerns.
- Lack of the utilization of sustainable, cost effective post-harvest practices, leading to high levels of food loss on the farm, and in wholesale and retail markets.
Food commodity:
Value addition
Value addition through low-cost food processing and/or preservation methods is an important measure to reduce global food loss. In recent years, consumer buying behavior has significantly changed. More people are consuming processed food than ever before, and the need for processed food is expected to increase in the coming years.
Key Factors:
- Fresh foods are perishable in nature which needs quick action to maintain quality
- During flush season demand is less and supply is high
- Can be performed at household levels to SMAEs levels
- Low cost method to preserve foods
Food commodity:
Packaging
Packaging may help to protect food and prolong its shelf life so that it safely reaches these households. In developed countries, food tends to be wasted rather at the household’s level due to wasteful behavior. There, packaging may be one of the drivers due to inappropriate packaging sizes and packaging that is difficult to empty. When discussing the sustainability of packaging, its protective function is often neglected and only revolves around the type and amount of material used for production.
Key Factors:
- Poor quality packages which provide little or no protection during handling, transport and storage.
- Poor choice of packages and packaging materials, with focus on cosmetic features rather than on strength, cleanliness, ventilation, moisture control, etc., which would help extend shelf life.
- Confusing or unnecessary “sell-by” or “use-by” dates, based upon cosmetic changes or inventory management schemes rather than on food safety concerns, leading to waste of edible foods at the retail level.
- Lack of education regarding proper packaging, cooling/cold storage, storage of cooked foods and reusing left-over foods, leading to increased discards of foods in the home.
Food commodity:
Cold Storage
Food producers, handlers and marketers often avoid the use of cold chain due to its perceived complexity, logistical challenges, and added costs. One of the ways to address this is to promote awareness as well as local, national, regional and international capacity building, including training of trainers, in the proper use of the cold chain.
Key Factors:
- Over-reliance on long term cold storage, refrigeration and freezing, leading to development of off-flavors, chilling injury and freezer burn, causing discards of improperly stored foods along the supply chain.
- Poor temperature management and lack of control of relative humidity, leading to shriveling, wilting and deterioration of perishable foods.
- Delays in transport to market without proper storage (cool storage for perishables, drying of staple grains/beans/legumes before storage).
Food commodity:
Cold Chain
A food chain is the integrated set of activities undertaken to ensure that perishable food products are kept at the optimum temperature in the supply chain that stretches from freshly harvested products to the end consumer. This requires a resilient network of temperature controlled pre-conditioning, packhouses, processing factories, vehicle and containers, cold stores, and wholesale/retail establishments.
Key Factors:
- Small holders/farmers may be unable to afford finance for purchasing equipment and supporting post-harvest product storage.
- Lack of collaboration among stakeholders to have common actions and investments.
- Farmers may lack awareness of simple techniques to take care of produce post-harvest, and training on the usage of relatively sophisticated cold-chain equipment
- Lack of large-scale cold-chain demonstrations to showcase its efficacy and impacts
- Inadequate agricultural infrastructure or inappropriate vehicle to transport the produce from the farm-gate to the packhouse.
- Cold-chain systems require robust transport and energy infrastructure to be in place to operate reliably with seamless market connectivity
