Food security

24.08.2012

Food loss is everybody’s business

GIZ and BMZ organised an expert forum on food losses in June 2012, particularly focusing on post-harvest losses.

The Sector Project Sustainable Resource Management in Agriculture of the GIZ – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) organised an expert forum on the topic of food losses on 28 June 2012 in Bonn, Germany. Actors and experts from development cooperation, research and the private sector concerned with this issue came together at a round-table knowledge workshop.

Food wastage and food loss mean that limited natural resources such as water, soil and inputs of seed, fertiliser and pesticides are being put to inefficient and unsustainable use. While post-harvest agricultural losses are more common in developing countries, industrial nations are faced with the problem of food wastage. Against the backdrop of fluctuating food prices and repeated famines, post-harvest losses could decisively influence a region's food security situation.

Post-harvest protection is a topical, but by no means new problem. Avoiding harvest losses by appropriate storage and processing was a major activity of German Technical Cooperation from the end of the 1970s until the mid 1990s. The core issue remains: Why do such losses still occur, and how can they be sustainably reduced?

The conclusion drawn from the export forum is that to reduce post-harvest losses it is necessary to address all steps in the value-adding chain, to incorporate regional and local specificities (weather, infrastructure, market situation) and also provide capacity development. The most frequent caused of post-harvest losses is that low food prices do not make it worthwhile for farmers to invest in sustainable storage and processing. Cost-benefit analyses which also incorporate the use of natural resources have to be drawn up for post-harvest protection measures. The Sector Project Sustainable Use of Natural Resources in Agriculture intends to carry out studies on food losses in partner countries (including Nigeria).

A detailed documentation of the findings of the expert forum is being prepared and will be available in brochure form.

Contact: Heike Ostermann@giz.de, Alberto.Camacho-Henriquez(at)giz.de

Author: GIZ/ile

   
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