Food Security and the Impoverishing Challenge of Post Harvest Loss

The season which marks the end of a growing period for a particular crop and begins the process of gathering mature crops from the fields is known as the Harvest. The social importance of this event makes it the focus of seasonal celebration such as a harvest festival. However, harvesting is the most labor intensive activity of the growing cycle. It involves cooling, sorting, cleaning, packing, up to the point of processing or shipping to the wholesale or consumer market.

A main challenge for agricultural development and policy is mainly on how to feed the fast growing population with safe food, and increment of food production by 50 – 70 per cent. One complementary factor is often forgotten which is reducing food loss and food wastage.

A World Bank report reveals that, each year, significant volumes of food at estimated value of USD 4 billion for grains, are lost after harvest in sub-Saharan Africa. Post Harvest Loss occurs between harvest and the moment of human consumption, it includes on-farm losses, such as when grain is threshed, winnowed and dried, as well as losses along the chain during transportation.

According to a FAO report significant volumes of grain in developing countries are lost after harvest, aggravating hunger and resulting in expensive inputs-such as fertilizer, irrigation water, and human labor-being wasted. During postharvest operations, there may be losses of both cereal quantity and quality.
Post harvest losses significantly endanger the livelihood of stakeholders and farmers across the value chain by reducing valuable income and profitability.

Studies have shown that reduction of just one percent in post harvest losses can lead a gain of 40 million USD annually as government investment will lead to huge reduction and increase income levels of actors across various agricultural value chain.

According to Ahmed, O.A. (2013), post harvest losses is making Nigerian farmers poorer. For a very long time, Nigerian farmers have lamented the situation without getting meaningful assistance. Roughly one third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, which amounts to about 1.3 billion of tones per year. This inevitably also means that high amount of the resources used in food production are used in vain.

All these are grave concerns for most small holder farmers in most developing countries of the world as managing their post harvest losses will not only improve their livelihood but the food security of their community.

FAO estimated that global demand for food will increase by 60 percent. Experts say the world population by 2050 is expected to reach 9.6 billion. Looking at this challenge to feed this population, the FAO established a global demand for food increase by 60 percent by the year 2050. In order to meet this target, there is need to ensure that food produced is not wasted between the farm and the table, adding that one-third of the food produced globally, go to waste.

Stable food crops are fundamental sources of energy and calories for the world and this is evident in grains, fruits and vegetables with greater levels of loss. According to the United Nations/FAO report on post harvest loss on vegetables and fruits in Africa an average outstanding 49 per cent is recorded, which means that for every two tomatoes produced, for every two bananas produced, for every two mangoes produced, it means on the average, only one of it is available for consumption.

Food is lost along every step along the food production chain, from harvest and handling to storage and processing to packaging as well as transportation. There are farmers who do not have a fast and dependable way to get food to the market owing to inefficient transportation or quality transport vehicle that pose various challenges for moving commodities from farm to market.

However, the Post-harvest Education Foundation highlighted some key factors associated to food losses and the gap in knowledge:

• 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 spread decay to other foods.
• 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 marketing 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 dangers.
• Lack of the utilization of sustainable cost effective post harvest practices, leading to high levels of food losses on the farm, and in retail markets.

Reducing post harvest loss is highly important and it can be achieved by providing access to adequate, safe and affordable food which is one of the great challenges of the society, as today, millions of the world citizens do not have access to adequate food. Numerous studies have shown that the world food system has to create capacity to feed additional 2 billion people over the next 20years.

Meanwhile, there is evidence that one-third of the world current agriculture production does not reach intended final consumer. The concern is that the high level of loss existent, is particularly dominant in Africa.
Studies have shown that, there are two conditions that seem to be consistently present when successful adoption occurs, one of which is incentives, particularly economic incentives. It has to be in the best interest of farmers to use their best resources to adopt the technology, and it has to be in the best interest of economic agents to supply those technologies. The second surrounds information equal system, an equal system that supports a direct buyer and seller of the technology. Conversely, presence of this broader equal information system can reduce post harvest loss.

However, providing a long lasting solution to the challenge of post harvest loss requires stemming up technologies and understanding the complexity of food production systems. In addition to the provided technology, the farmers need education, training and support. There is need for improvements in technology, but that should not be a stumbling block to initiate actions that will benefit small holder farmers and the society, as appropriate technologies exist that farmers can adopt and when they do this, there will be drastic reduction in post harvest loss.

It is important for all to see that post harvest loss is reduced so as to achieve the food security goal of the future. Everyone, whether in the public or private sector, or in civil society, need to appreciate the key role that can be played in fostering and maintaining the vibrant support system that will facilitate decision making and adoption of post harvest loss reducing technology.