Food loss for green leafy vegetable, rape (Brassica napus L), in a rural-to-urban supply chain in Zambia

Abstract Vegetables in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) play very important roles in food security and nutrition, household income, and livelihoods. The proportion of food-insecure people is higher in Africa than in other parts of the world, and one of the major factors attributed to this is food loss and waste. The green leafy vegetable rape ( Brassica napus L ), from the family Brassicaceae, is dominantly grown, traded, and highly consumed in Zambia. Yet, systematic evidence for food loss and waste of this vegetable in SSA remains limited. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the food losses, economic food losses and the critical loss points and underlying food loss causes in a rural-to-urban supply chain for rape in Zambia. Primary data was collected at the farm, transportation, and trading levels of the food supply chain using the FAO food loss assessment method, complemented by secondary data for the preparation of data collection tools. The study found that the harvesting stage incurs relatively high physical food losses, while the trading stage incurs the highest food losses in the supply chain. The quality, physical, and total economic food losses found for the supply chain are high, but within those reported in the literature. Based on the FAO guidelines, the harvesting and trading stages have been identified as the critical loss points in the supply chain. These findings suggest interventions that should include training in harvesting / postharvest handling, packaging in transportation, and product and environmental hygiene at the farm and trading levels.