Page 12 - Luciana Delgado Otero

Chapter 1

increase the productivity of smallholder farmers and accelerate the process of
agri-food system transformation.
To implement a strategy to reduce and prevent food loss, there are three
important aspects that need to be taken into consideration. First, there is no
accurate information on the extent of the problem, especially in low- and middle-
income countries. For the most part, calculations of food loss hinge upon
accounting exercises that use aggregate data from food balance sheets provided

by national or local authorities. This macro-approach estimates, however, are
often subject to large measurement error, frequently rely on poor quality data,
particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and are not based on
representative samples for specific stages of the value chain. Gustavson et al.
(2011), Kummu et al. (2012) and Lipinski et al. (2013) used the Food Balance
Sheets from FAOSTAT (2019) to estimate global food losses. More recently
applied micro approaches use sample survey data regarding specific value chain
actors to overcome shortcomings of the macro approach. However, these micro
approaches are costly and time-consuming to implement. In addition, it can be
difficult to get a large enough proportion of responses to represent an entire
value chain or region across several years. Results are also hard to compare.

Second, there is only scarce evidence regarding the source or cause of food loss.
Because of the aggregate nature of their data, macro studies are unable to
capture the critical stages at which food loss occurs. Most micro studies capture
total food loss based on producers’ self-reported estimates but do not capture
detailed information regarding the relative amounts of food loss incurred by
different sources.

Third, there is little evidence regarding how to reduce the losses effectively. There
have been efforts to introduce particular technologies along specific stages of the
value chain (e.g., silos for grain storage, triple bagging for cowpea storage, or
mechanized harvesting and cleaning equipment for wheat and maize). However,
2

2 Chatterjee (2018) looks into the impact of storage infrastructure on agricultural yield by
using the subsidy program given for construction and renovation of rural godowns in
India. The author finds that this subsidy program for better storage infrastructure led to
an increase in the rice yield by 0.3 tons per hectare — a 20 percent increase from the

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