Tunis:  The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized a national workshop on post-harvest losses and waste reduction in the cereals value chain. Workshop participants included key players and decision makers such as producers, transporters, collection centers, storage units, processors, technical agencies, donors, trade unions, civil society and representatives of ministries operating in the grain industry.

This workshop marks an important step in the implementation of the project "Reduction of Food Losses and Waste and Development of Value Chains for Food Security in Tunisia and Egypt". In his speech, Mr. Michael Hage, FAO Coordinator for North Africa, says, "This project focuses on the loss and waste of cereals, in order to improve the functioning of their value chains, reduce losses and any negative environmental footprint, as post-harvest grain losses have a direct impact on natural resources: land, water, labor and energy. The methodology developed by FAO and used by the project team aims to identify and quantify critical points of malfunction and then find appropriate solutions. National capacity building was a key component during this phase of the project."

50% of Tunisian farmers live off the cereal sector

The cereals sector is important in Tunisia because it occupies approximately 1.5 million hectares, or 30% of the cultivated area. It represents 6.5% of the working days created by all agricultural activity and 12 to 15% of the value of agricultural production. This means that it is the main source of income for about 50% of farmers. Based on the results of a study carried out by the Tunisian National Institute of Statistics (INS) on the waste of bread, it has been shown that 900,000 units of bread are wasted per day, worth 100 million dinars (US$ 40 million) a year. As a basic food source for the Tunisian and Mediterranean population in general, food expenditures related to cereals represent about 149 DT per person per year, according to the INS, or 13% of total food expenditure.

"The analysis of grain losses and waste covered all stages of the value chain, from harvest to collection and storage. It should be noted that the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries has selected the cereals value chain to continue the analysis and increase knowledge on this sector. The study of the value chain of cereals, in particular losses and waste, will lead to the implementation of activities to reduce these losses and losses at each stage of the value chain. It would be desirable to develop a practical guide that would be made available to professionals in order to put into practice the methodology developed by the project,” said Mr. Boubaker Karray, Director of the Cabinet at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries.

The workshop was an opportunity to present, discuss and validate the results of the study on the estimation of losses and propose actions to be undertaken by each partner: public, private and civil society. At the conclusion of this workshop, detailed workplan matrices will be presented, providing guidance on appropriate actions to be undertaken by each stakeholder in coordination with the entire value chain group. Aggregation of these detailed action plans will contribute to the development and implementation of a national grain loss reduction program. The methodology developed by the project could be applied to other value chains, thanks in particular to the capacity building provided by the project.