Ben Bennett

Postharvest losses and waste in developed and less developed countries: opportunities to improve resource use

This review compares and contrasts postharvest food losses (PHLs) and waste in developed countries (especially the USA and the UK) with those in less developed countries (LDCs), especially the case of cereals in sub-Saharan Africa. Reducing food losses offers an important way of increasing food availability without requiring additional production resources, and in LDCs it can contribute to rural development and poverty reduction by improving agribusiness livelihoods. The critical factors governing PHLs and food waste are mostly after the farm gate in developed countries but before the farm gate in LDCs. In the foreseeable future (e.g. up to 2030), the main drivers for reducing PHLs differ: in the developed world, they include consumer education campaigns, carefully targeted taxation and private and public sector partnerships sharing the responsibility for loss reduction. The LDCs’ drivers include more widespread education of farmers in the causes of PHLs; better infrastructure to connect smallholders to markets; more effective value chains that provide sufficient financial incentives at the producer level; opportunities to adopt collective marketing and better technologies supported by access to microcredit; and the public and private sectors sharing the investment costs and risks in market-orientated interventions.

Guest editorial: Smallholder cassava production and the cassava processing sector in Africa

Whichever way you look at it, cassava is important for the future of Africa. Whether from the perspective of tackling hunger in a world of uncertain climate conditions, as a source of food security when other crops fail, as a means to create a cash income through processing and sales, as a driver of local agro-industry, as a way of reducing the cost burden of imports through substitution and/or biofuel production, or, for many hopeful politicians, as a future export crop with comparative advantage. The FAO says that the world produced 277 million tonnes of cassava in 2013, of which 158 million tonnes came from Africa (57 per cent) and 54 million tonnes from one country, Nigeria (19.5 per cent). None of this African production is traded; all is consumed domestically. How much is lost post harvest: we only have a vague idea. What we do know is that yields are very low by international standards. On a recent mission to Nigeria I listened to a group of experts agree a target yield of 12 tonnes a hectare; a lo...

Beliefs, Taboos and Minor Crop Value Chains: The Case of Bambara Groundnut in Malawi

Abstract Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean) is a source of food for smallholder farmers that is increasingly promoted for its drought tolerance, soil-enhancing qualities and nutritious properties. Being an accessible crop to smallholders, it has also recently been the focus of support to develop its value chain in Malawi. However, bambara groundnut is featured in the belief systems of rural people in Malawi, and may influence and be influenced by market development. Beliefs and taboos reflect the life/death meanings symbolically represented in bambara groundnut, which influences how and by whom the crop is produced and consumed. These practices lend women significant control over the crop. The findings described in this paper have important implications for development and market-related interventions that work with food crops, which need to be taken into account during the design phase of projects.

Gender analysis of households' decision-making to reduce post-harvest losses of cassava in Ghana, Nigeria, and Vietnam

This study analysed gender dimensions of decision-making at the household level in cassava enterprise in Ghana, Nigeria, and Vietnam in the context of risks and benefits to food security to ensure value addition to reduce post-harvest losses from cassava. Rapid participatory rural appraisal was used to select a total of 501 households in the countries chosen for this study. Focus and group discussions (F and GD) and semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. Data were analysed descriptively. Twenty cassava-based activities linked to gender activities in cassava processing households in the selected countries were identified. In all three countries, final decisions to allocate and use resources were taken by men – although women are commonly responsible for post-harvest management. Ownership of production and processing assets is positively skewed to men across the sample with women having rights of use only. Household decision-making objectives for generating peels and attitudes tow...

Private voluntary standards in livestock and meat sectors: Implications for developing countries

Over recent decades, international trade in meat products has increased enormously. Developing countries have had a leading role in the recent dynamics of the meat sector and have witnessed the strongest growth in consumption, production, and international trade. International trade in food products is governed by a growing array of public and private food standards. In recent decades, private voluntary standards developed in Western countries have become a key element of governance in meat food chains. The proliferation and influence of these private standards may represent both an opportunity and a threat for livestock producers and, in the coming years, might have increasingly important developmental implications for poorer countries, including those in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this work is to shed light on the current practice in the application of these standards and to examine the present and future implications for developing countries, especially in Africa.