Storage and Post-harvest Losses

Alan de Brauw () and Erwin Bulte
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Alan de Brauw: International Food Policy Research Institute

Chapter Chapter 7 in African Farmers, Value Chains and Agricultural Development, 2021, pp 129-154 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Poor storage causes additional problems for smallholder farmers, as they are pressured to sell crops immediately after harvest. As a result, in Africa in many years prices for major grains fall right after harvest and peak just before the next one. Poor storage can also lead to post-harvest losses. Yet good post-harvest loss measurements are scarce, particularly for vegetables; since information on actual losses is poor, it is difficult to design cost-effective interventions to reduce them. With improved storage, farmers could reap returns to higher prices later in the season. More regional storage can also support warehouse receipts systems, which can be used both as collateral and to develop commodity exchanges. Yet again, transaction costs to using regional storage are high for smallholders.

Keywords: Storage; Post-harvest losses; Warehouse receipts; Commodity exchanges (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:psachp:978-3-030-88693-6_7

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-88693-6_7

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