The Post-Harvest Losses: The Consequences for Africa

Abstract— Introduction: The Food and Agricultural Organization predicts that about 1.3 billion tonnes of food are globally wasted or lost per year. This is equivalent to 30% of food produced for human consumption for the same period. Some reports have estimated that this lost or wasted food can be used to feed 1.6 billion people every year. Problem Statement: Global food waste is a far-reaching problem with tremendous financial, ethical and environmental costs. The amount of food lost or wasted costs US$2.6 trillion annually and is more than enough to feed about 815 million hungry people in the world four times over. Methodology: The study is mainly qualitative with some quantitative in scope making use of secondary data (literature from journals, working papers, unpublished theses, publications from government, World Bank and similar institutions) and global agribusiness industry. Results: The review found out that, via meta-analysis, evidence of post-harvest losses in Africa is spotty and quantitative estimates are often derived from inadequate datasets. The major reason for many post-harvest losses estimates is weak assessment methodologies. The world’s increasing population and demand for food, reducing food loss and waste is one of the challenges globally. Food loss and waste have significant negative food-security, economic and environmental impacts. The value of annual food loss and waste globally is about US$1 trillion and one billion tonnes in quantity. Conclusion: Although reduction of post-harvest food losses is a critical component of ensuring future global food security, however, production resources including land, water and energy are at the moment limited and inelastic.