Reducing Postharvest Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
18
g) Fish and Seafood Products
Source: Authors own analysis of FAO data.
2.2. Overview of Postharvest Losses in OIC Member Countries
Literature reviews for each commodity group discuss the known information relating to
postharvest losses and causes in the OIC Member Countries where this information is known.
Where information is not known, general information relating to losses of that commodity are
given using situations that are similar where possible.
2.2.1. Cereals
Introduction
The following is a brief summary of the literature relevant to cereal postharvest losses (PHL)
in the 57 OIC Member Countries. Postharvest loss may be described quantitatively or
qualitatively, in terms of nutritive or economic value of the produce but can also include loss
of: agricultural inputs, seed or grain viability and brewing potential, opportunity cost and
goodwill. Most postharvest work has focused on quantitative loss, e.g. reduction in weight or
volume which is relatively easy to measure and less subjective in its nature. However,
postharvest loss levels are affected by numerous factors including the climate and decisions
and resources that different individuals make and can access at different postharvest stages.
Postharvest losses are therefore highly contextual and average loss figures are simply an
indicator of the scale of the problem, albeit one that is important for informed targeting and
evaluation of loss reduction programmes and for estimating food availability.
The only information system focused on PHL levels is APHLIS – the African Postharvest Losses
Information System2 , an online freely accessible resource which provides estimates of
cumulative weight losses incurred during harvesting, drying, handling operations, farm
storage, transport and market storage for nine different cereal crops across 39 sub-Saharan
African. The loss values for each link in the postharvest chain are taken from a thorough
review of the scientific literature and are modified by several seasonal factors (e.g. rain at
harvest or during crop drying, presence of the large grain borer (LGB, Prostephanus
truncatus)) that vary from year to year and are submitted by the APHLIS network members
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Postharvest loss (%)
Farm Postharvest Consumer