Reducing Postharvest Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
16
Figure 1: Postharvest losses by commodity group and region of the world
Source: Authors own analysis of FAO data.
The estimates of postharvest food losses for the seven commodity groups and regions of the
world show varying trends. Cereals and Oilseeds and Pulses had the lowest overall losses in
the range of 9% to 18% and with only minor lower losses in this industrialised countries
(Europe, Industrialised Asia and North America and Oceania) compared to the LMICs (Low to
Middle Income Countries) being Northern Africa, West and Central Asia, Latin America, Sub-
Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. For Fruit and Vegetables, Fish and Seafood
Products and Dairy there postharvest losses were generally higher but more markedly so for
the LMICs and this was most noticeable for Dairy products. For Root and Tuber Crops, losses
were overall higher but the difference between Industrialised and LMICs was less district.
The information in Figure 1 does not yet exist for the OIC Member Countries, they are among
these country groups and postharvest losses there will be discussing in later sections of this
report.
Considering the relative importance of postharvest losses globally with respect to on-farm and
consumer losses, Figure 2 shows the losses by commodity and region to illustrate the relative
differences. This illustrates that postharvest losses can for some commodities and regions
represent most of the losses while in other cases it is minor. For all commodity groups
postharvest losses represent the major area of losses in LMICs while for industrialised
countries it is mixed. For example, postharvest losses in industrialised countries are generally
minor compared to on-farm and consumer losses for cereals and dairy and dairy products.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Cereals R&T Oilseeds F&V Meat Fish Dairy
Postharvest losses (%)
Europe North America and Oceania
Industrialised Asia Sub-Saharan Africa
North Africa, West and Central Asia South and Southeast Asia
Latin America