Reducing On-Farm Food Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
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When foods are produced for export, on-farm losses are lost potential revenue for farmers and
marketers. In some cases, the OIC Member Countries have problems meeting quality standards
for cereals or oilseeds (exceeding aflatoxin limits; IITA 2010), fresh produce (based upon grades
due to size or appearance; Hussein, 2012) and dairy products (due to aflatoxin and high bacterial
counts in milk (Bor, 2014)). Produce that is rejected may wind up on the domestic market at
drastically reduced prices, be recycled on the farm as compost, or may go to waste.
4.2.3. Effects on Food Security
Food security is defined by FAO (2001) in The State of Food Insecurity 2001 as: “a situation that
exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe
and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy
life”. Lost food means lost calories and lowered nutrition for consumers in the OIC Member
Countries, which immediately reduces food security for the community. On-farm food losses are
of particular immediate impact, since these losses reduce the amount of available food that a
smallholder farm family can keep for their own consumption. Also this can have a direct effect
on malnutrition in the populations resulting in lower consumption of nutritionally valuable
perishable foods such as vegetables and fruits, which are being replaced by more available foods
such as cereals. This can have a direct effect on chronic and acute malnutrition rates. Also many
small scale families reduce quantities consumed during certain times of the year (lean period)
and in times of civil strife and insecurity.
4.2.4. Effects on the Environment
Lost food is also lost inputs like seeds, water, fertilizer, and labor and wasteful use of arable land
or water resources. Many of the OIC Member Countries are in areas of the world with limited
water resources, and on-farm food losses are an enormous waste of precious water. FAO (2013)
has published a series of documents and videos on the “Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on
Natural Resources”, reporting that production losses are responsible for about 15% of the total
greenhouse gas emissions due the foot wastage.
For cereals, the production and application of nitrogen fertilizer are major contributors to the
overall climate impact. Pulses, which fix nitrogen and therefore do not need added nitrogen
fertilizer, have much lower impact. Roots and tubers, which have a very high yield per hectare
will have lower impact per tonne of production than do cereals. For countries that utilize
mechanization, the use of diesel fuel for agricultural operations, such as ploughing, harvesting
and drying results in CO2 emissions (FAO 2013). Additionally production of high energy
consuming food production such as animals have a negative impact on the environment when
they are being lost.
Foods lost on the farm, whether sorted out at harvest, or left in the field due to spillage, can
contribute to global warming when heaps of rejected foods decay under anaerobic conditions
and release methane gas. According to FAO (2013), almost 99% of food wastage at agricultural