Reducing On-Farm Food Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
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(Foreign Agricultural Service/USDA, Office of Global Analysis Dec 2015). Among the OIC
Member Countries, Indonesia, Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey are also major producers.
For the Roots and Tubers food group, two crops in Nigeria were selected. Cassava is a top global
food crop inmany of the OIC Member Countries, and sweet potatoes are similar to malanga, yam,
taro, and potatoes which are also in high production.
The Oilseeds and Pulses group included a case study performed on groundnuts in Benin. Major
producers among the OIC Member Countries also include Nigeria, Sudan, Indonesia, Burkina
Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Mali, and Chad.
Fruits and Vegetables are an enormous group of food crops, so there are two case studies. The
first case study concerns tomatoes in Egypt. Tomatoes are similar to capsicum, aubergine
(eggplant) and hot peppers regarding the management of on-farm losses and major OIC
producers include Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia. The
second case study is on bananas and plantains in Uganda, which are an important economic
resource for rural farmers in Uganda. Farming communities in Uganda have consistently ranked
the banana crop as their most important crop because the plant produces all year-round and has
multiple uses including food, beverages, snacks, feed, industrial spirits, crafts and medicinal
uses.
Within all three of the OIC country groups, African, Arab and Asian, eggs, cow milk and chicken
meat are of primary importance. In the Arab group camel and buffalo milk are among the top
food products, while in Asia it is indigenous chicken meat. For the African countries, cattle meat
is among the top produced livestock based foods. For the case study on meat and dairy products,
chicken (broiler meat) in Turkey was selected. Broiler meat is the most produced animal food in
the world, and is a highly valuable agricultural product. Among the OIC Member Countries, Saudi
Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Jordan are major producers.
Aquaculture is the source of nearly 50% of global fisheries production, and is growing at a rapid
pace in the Arab Group, especially in Egypt and Jordan, and in the Asian Group throughout
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey. It is defined as fish farming, including breeding
(production of seeds or fry), controlled feeding, and controlled harvesting of fish or crustaceans.
This normally requires capital and if often out of reach for small-scale or artisanal producers.
For the case study on Fish and Seafood, aquaculture production of shrimp and tilapia in
Indonesia was selected. Top global producers among OIC Member Countries also include
Bangladesh and Egypt.
For each of the case studies on food crops, consultants conducted a modified Commodity
Systems Assessment Methodology (CSAM) field survey, focusing on planning, production,
harvesting, and on-farm handling, and interviewed producers, extension workers and
intermediaries. Local consultants visited six farms for each case study. They collected a wide