IFPRI Malawi congratulates Kate Ambler, Alan de Brauw, and Susan Godlonton, who received the 2018 AAERS-Wiley Blackwell Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics Award for their paper, "Measuring Post-harvest Losses at the Farm Level in Malawi." The award was presented during the 63rd Annual AARES Conference in Melbourne, Australia.
About the study
Reducing food loss and waste are important policy objectives prominently featured in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. To optimally design interventions targeted at reducing post-harvest losses, it is important to know where those losses occur along the agricultural value chains.
This study was done in collaboration with NASFAM (National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi), which is the largest smallholder-owned organization providing both commercial and development services to farmers in Malawi.
The research team measured farm level post-harvest losses for three main crops—maize, soybeans, and groundnuts—among 1,200 households from 120 NASFAM farmers’ clubs in Dowa and Ntchisi districts in central Malawi. An innovative questionnaire helped to conduct an analysis of losses during the harvest and transport, processing, and storage stages and to measure both total losses and reductions in crop quality.
The findings of the study indicate that less than half of households growing the three crops report suffering post-harvest losses. For those reporting losses, the average loss ranges between 5 and 12 percent of the farmer’s total harvest. When compared to data from the nationally representative Integrated Household Survey (IHS), which measures losses using a single survey question, this study documents a far greater percentage of farmers experiencing losses, though the overall proportion of loss is similar. The study team found that losses are concentrated in harvest and processing stages for groundnuts and maize, whereas for soybeans losses are highest during processing. As existing interventions have primarily targeted storage, the authors suggested that targeting other stages in the value chain may be beneficial.
The authors also found that increased production often leads to increased post-harvest losses, suggesting that farmers may have the capacity and willingness to pay for technologies that can limit losses if they are properly informed about their importance. Educating farmers about the conditions in which they should be most concerned about loss prevention will enhance the effectiveness of any prevention strategies. The study concludes with the suggestion to target specific interventions at different actors along the value chain, from middlemen to processors. This could improve crop handling, reduce post-harvest losses and increase overall food availability.
The AJARE Award recognizes the most outstanding paper published in the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics during the preceding calendar year.
Kate Ambler is a research fellow and Alan de Brauw is a senior research fellow in IFPRI’s Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division. Susan Godlonton is an Assistant Professor at Williams College in the USA.
Read and download the full article here.
IFPRI Discussion Paper 01632: Measuring Postharvest Losses at the Farm Level in Malawi
Further reading:
IFPRI Malawi Blog and seminar presentation by Susan Godlonton, March 7, 2018: Agriculture Support Services: Direct effects, complementarities and time dynamics.
