Reducing Postharvest Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
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Figure 5: Percentage of postharvest weight losses of sorghum in Somalia and Senegal (with
inset showing provincial level sorghum postharvest losses in 2012)
Source: APHLIS 2016
In addition to the PHL of the cereals produced by each country, PHL of imported cereal grains
will also be occurring during storage, transport and marketing although this has not been the
topic of detailed research to date. However, given the importance of cereal imports in many
OIC Member Countries and the likely increased import dependency in the future due to high
population growth, urbanisation and severe water shortages for crop production in some of
the focal countries, it is clearly important to deepen understanding of the postharvest systems,
losses and opportunities for reducing the losses of the growing quantities of imported cereals
as well as home-grown cereals in these countries.
The total human population in these 57 OIC Member Countries was <1.2 billion in 1995, 1.7
billion in 2015, and is projected to reach 2.16 billion by 2030, and 2.77 billion by 2050.
Estimates suggest that globally, sustainable food production will need to increase by at least
70% by 2050 (FAO, 2006; Bruinsma, 2009; Davies et al., 2009; Tilman et al., 2011). Alongside
this increased demand for food, climate change and increased variability are making rain-fed
agriculture yet more challenging. While attention focuses on increasing yields and
productivity, an unacceptably high amount of the food produced is then lost after harvest.
Urbanisation varies between the OIC Member Countries, but is increasing in all of them, 55%
of the population are currently urban-based and this will increase to 60% by 2030. However,
in many of the Arab and North African member countries urbanisation is already at levels of
75% or above. Food choices and food supply chains change with urbanisation, and all of these
factors influence and change the postharvest elements of the food supply chains. Therefore,
while it is important to review the literature regards the level of and points at which
postharvest losses occur, it is also crucial to recognise that the food systems are rapidly
changing to feed many more people in more urban situations, whose food choices are changing