Reducing On-Farm Food Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
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production stage appears to be produced in regions whose soils are experiencing, on average,
medium to strong land degradation. In addition, more than 50% of food wastage at the
agricultural production stage appears to be occurring in regions whose soils are, on average,
currently at a low or bad status in terms of soil degradation. In the OIC Member Countries,
promoting composting would allow this wasted food to be recycled on farm and used as
fertilizer, rather than allowing lost foods to decay and add methane to the atmosphere.
Recent studies have linked climate change mitigation with “climate sensitive” agricultural
production and reduction of food losses. Action Line for Development in Uganda has made the
following recommendations: “The overall efficiency, resilience, adaptive capacity and mitigation
potential of the production systems can be enhanced through improving its various
components,” which are presented in Table 4.10.
Table 4.10: Enhancing the Efficiency, Resilience, Adaptive Capacity and Mitigation Potential of
the Production Systems
Key Components Means of Enhancement
Soil and nutrient management: the
availability of nitrogen and other
nutrients is essential to increase yields.
Composting manure and crop residues, more precise
matching of nutrients with plant needs, controlled
release and deep placement technologies or using
legumes for natural nitrogen fixation.
Water harvesting and use: irrigation is
practiced on 20% of the agricultural land
in developing countries but can generate
130%more yields than rain-fed systems.
Improved water harvesting and retention (such as pools,
dams, pits, retaining ridges, etc.) and water-use
efficiency (irrigation systems) are fundamental for
increasing production and addressing increasing
irregularity of rainfall patterns.
Pest and disease control: climate change
is altering the distribution, incidence and
intensity of animal and plant pests and
diseases as well as invasive and alien
species.
Integrated pest management
Resilient ecosystems Improving ecosystem management and biodiversity can
provide a number of ecosystem services, which can lead
to more resilient, productive and sustainable systems
that may also contribute to reducing or removing
greenhouse gases.
Source: Kabagoza (2015).