Naziri, Diego ORCID: 0000-0002-8078-5033, Mayanja, Sarah, Namanda, Sam, Nalunga, Asha, Abass, Adebayo, Wanda, Kelly, Tatwangire, Alex, Nabukeera, Caroline and Kikulwe, Enoch (2017) Postharvest losses along the cooking banana, potato and cassava fresh value chains in Uganda. In: Book of Abstracts of the 1st All Africa Postharvest Congress and Exhibition: Reducing Food Losses and Waste: Sustainable Solutions for Africa. Organizing Committee of 1st All Africa Postharvest Congress and Exhibition, p. 123.

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Abstract

Policy makers and development practitioners are challenged by the paucity of reliable data on the extent of postharvest losses (PHL) for devising suitable policies and strategies for their reduction. This study estimates PHL at different stages of the cooking banana, potato and cassava fresh value chains in Uganda by using cross-sectional data. A distinction was made between physical losses (product disappearing from the chain) and economic losses (partially deteriorated product sold at discounted price). Our findings indicate that the non-marketed output incurs very low physical losses (apart from potatoes, primarily during harvesting and storage) and, by definition, no economic losses. Conversely, substantial losses are found along the market chain. Physical losses affect about 30% of traded potatoes, followed by bananas (21%) and cassava (3%). However, the cassava value chain is characterized by much higher economic losses (about 47% of marketed roots sold at discount due to their rapid postharvest deterioration) than in the case of bananas and potatoes (10% and 8%, respectively). Overall, out of the total marketed output, 50% of cassava, 38% of potatoes and 30% of bananas incur either physical or economic losses. However, unlike banana and cassava that are mainly subsistence crops, potato in Uganda is primarily produced for the market. This results in a proportion of total potato production incurring PHL much higher (36%) than for banana and cassava (about 12%). Nevertheless, being its annual production enormous in the country, the quantity of bananas affected by PHL is about 7 and 25 times higher than the one of cassava and potato, respectively. Banana and cassava retailers - primarily women - are the value chain actors incurring the highest losses while, for potato, wholesalers are the most affected. Our findings contribute to policy prioritization and show that a diverse set of interventions is required to tackle PHL.

Item Type:	Conference Proceedings
Title of Proceedings:	Book of Abstracts of the 1st All Africa Postharvest Congress and Exhibition: Reducing Food Losses and Waste: Sustainable Solutions for Africa
Additional Information:	Conference held from 28-31 March 2017, Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Postharvest losses, abanana, potato, cassava, value chains, Uganda
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 > Development Studies Research Group Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Food & Markets Department
Last Modified:	18 Sep 2020 21:16
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/27932

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