Stathers, Tanya ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7767-6186, Holcroft, Deirdre, Kitinoja, Lisa, Mvumi, Brighton, English, Alicia, Omotilewa, Oluwatoba, Kocher, Megan, Ault, Jessica and Torero, Maximo (2020) A scoping review of interventions for crop postharvest loss reduction in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Nature Sustainability, 3 (10). pp. 821-835. ISSN 2398-9629 (Online) (doi:10.1038/s41893-020-00622-1)

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Abstract

Reducing postharvest losses (PHLs) of food crops is a critical component of sustainably increasing agricultural productivity. Many PHL reduction interventions have been tested, but synthesised information to support evidence-based investments and policy is scarce. In this study, PHL reduction interventions for 22 crops across 57 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia from the 1970s to 2019 were systematically reviewed. This resulted in 334 studies which were used to synthesise the evidence and construct an online open-access database, searchable by crop, country, postharvest activity and intervention type. Storage technology interventions mainly targeting farmers dominated (83% of studies). Maize was the most studied crop (25%). India had the most studies (32%), while 25 countries had no studies. This review indicates an urgent need for systematic assessment of interventions across the entire value chain over multiple seasons and sites, targeting stakeholders beyond farmers. The lack of studies on training, finance, infrastructure, policy and market interventions highlights the need for interventions beyond technologies or handling practice changes. Additionally, more studies are needed connecting the impact of PHL reductions to SDG-related social, economic and environmental outcomes. This review provides decision-makers with data for informed policy formulation and prioritisation of investments in PHL reduction.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	postharvest loss reduction interventions, cereals, legumes, fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers
Subjects:	S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Food & Markets Department Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Postharvest Science and Technology Research Group
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	03 Nov 2020 10:29
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/29592

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