Reducing Postharvest Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
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generating, exchanging, and using knowledge, and the social and economic institutions that
condition their actions and interactions (Spielman et al., 2008; Larsen et al., 2009). The
innovation systems concept extends beyond the creation of knowledge to encompass factors
affecting demand for and use of new and existing knowledge (Hall et al., 2004).
An Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich led EU FP7 Project (Gains from Losses
of Root and Tuber Crops; GRATITUDE) deliverable report suggests ways that cassava losses
can be turned into commercially viable business opportunities (Sergeant et al., 2015). At the
time of publication viable business opportunities for turning cassava waste in Nigeria were not
considered feasible but the situation may change in the short to medium term. Example
opportunities included mushroom production from cassava peels and stems in Ghana, using
High Quality Cassava Flour to access the gluten free market in Thailand and Asia and recovery
from starch from waste pulp from starch factories in Thailand and Asia,.
4.2.5. Lessons Learned from the Case Study
There are a number of lessons from this case study
 There are few published reports on losses and economic losses
 The published reports agree in some areas and disagree in others. This suggests a
need for common and standardised methodology
 A value chain approach is important since you can have the same crop in different
value chains leading to very different losses, especially economic ones
 Viable business opportunities for reducing waste or turning it into a product of value
need to be carefully considered before investing money
 Gender needs to be considered in waste reduction or waste opportunity solutions
4.3. Oilseeds and Pulses in Senegal
This was a desk based study and is based on available published literature.
4.3.1. Status and Importance
Groundnuts production used to dominate the agricultural sector and, indeed, the economy of
Senegal. In the 1960-70s it accounted for over 80% of the country’s merchandise exports and
employed more than 85% of the active population (Caswell 1985). Output however declined
sharply and close to just about one-fifth of levels achieved in the past by 2002/03. By then
export volumes were negligible. In response, the Government of Senegal launched an initiative
to boost groundnuts production as part of its Great Agricultural Offensive for Food and
Abundance (GOANA) programme in 2008. Since then the subsector has experienced a
recovery, posting a rise to 669,000 tonnes in 2014/15 and further to 1,067,000 tonnes in
2015/16. This places Senegal second only to Nigeria (another OIC Member Country) in Africa
and sixth in the global production league. Output is forecast by Government to rise to 1.1
million tonnes during the 2016/17 season.
Export of groundnuts has also resumed and, according to reports by the Global Agricultural
Information Network (GAIN), the country exported a total of 340,000 tonnes of the nuts in
2015/16. The bulk of the exports went into China (about 65%) and another 33% to Vietnam.
The remaining 2% was shared between other African countries including Egypt and Cote
d’Ivoire as well as Asian countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Increased competition,
especially among exporters, also drove up farmgate prices, well above the minimum fixed price