Post-harvest loss in Sub-Saharan Africa -- what do farmers say ?

Luc Christiaensen, Jonathan Kaminski, Luc Christiaensen and Jonathan Kaminski
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Luc Christiaensen and Jonathan Kaminski

No 6831, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: The 2007-2008 global food crisis has renewed interest in post-harvest loss, but estimates remain scarce, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper uses self-reported measures from nationally representative household surveys in Malawi, Uganda, and Tanzania. Overall, on-farm post-harvest loss adds to 1.4-5.9 percent of the national maize harvest, substantially lower than the Food and Agriculture Organization's post-harvest handling and storage loss estimate for cereals, which is 8 percent. Post-harvest loss is concentrated among less than a fifth of households. It increases with humidity and temperature and declines with better market access, post-primary education, higher seasonal price differences, and possibly improved storage practices. Wider use of nationally representative surveys in studying post-harvest loss is called for.

Keywords: Secondary Education; Food Security; Primary Education; Gender and Economic Policy; Gender and Poverty; Gender and Economics; Economics and Gender; Climate Change and Agriculture; Crops and Crop Management Systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-04-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-agr, nep-dev, nep-env and nep-ger
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (60)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6831

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