Reducing food losses in Ghana's food systems and urban markets

Food losses represent a major inefficiency in global food systems, undermining efforts to ensure food security, environmental sustainability, and economic resilience. While high-income countries have focused on reducing waste at retail and consumer levels, post-harvest and market-level losses remain particularly severe in low- and middle-income countries, from farm to retail, particularly within urban markets where perishable crops are traded daily. In this policy brief, we examine food losses in Ghana’s food systems and urban markets, with particular emphasis on how market-level inefficiencies translate into significant losses of fresh tomato produce and how targeted, low-cost solutions can drive measurable change in urban market systems of Ghana. Our findings show that each trader loses at least one basket of produce every two weeks at an economic cost of GHS 500. The brief identifies practical entry points for action and policy pathways, including the introduction of solar-powered cold storage, small-scale processing, improved market design, circular economic models and trader education on post-harvest handling. Relating the findings within Ghana’s wider food security and climate agendas, we highlighted that reducing food losses will save incomes, improve food insecurity, and safeguard the environment. Our work contributes practical insights that can guide coordinated policy and investment actions for a more sustainable and efficient food future in Ghana.