Reducing Postharvest Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
111
are slaughtered within the homestead. For these animals, the skins, head, feet, offal and blood
are largely unused. In cities, this material is collected as municipal waste. In rural areas less in
known about its destination.
Oman imports a large number of live animals which are either re-exported, sold for
consumption domestically or fattened by specialist and sold to domestic consumers. For these
animals, the so-called 5th quarter is also not used.
Live imports into Oman follow domestic animal quarantine rules (3 days). In the case of
animals from ‘Somalia’, they have also been quarantined for 21 days at source. It was reported
that mortality between quarantine and sale was low (1-2%). Mortality higher up the chain
(e.g. between Ethiopia and Somalia) is unknown, but probably higher.
Where animals are fattened or fed domestically, feed conversion and food safety were
considered to be possible sources of loss, but no respondents were prepared to speculate on
how great this might be. The same can be said of domestic livestock and meat market
distortions, which undoubtedly result in a transfer of value along the chain, but how great this
might be is not currently of interest to the Government of Oman. The processes and key loss
points are summarised i
Figure 16: The Oman red meat value chain and postharvest practices
Source: interviews