Quantity and quality food losses across the value chain: A comparative analysis
The essential first steps of addressing the problem of food loss are measuring the loss, identifying where in the food system it occurs, and developing effective policies to mitigate it along the value chain. Food loss has been defined in many ways, and disagreement remains over proper terminology a...
| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142552 |
| _version_ | 1855520891125891072 |
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| author | Delgado, Luciana Schuster, Monica Torero, Máximo |
| author_browse | Delgado, Luciana Schuster, Monica Torero, Máximo |
| author_facet | Delgado, Luciana Schuster, Monica Torero, Máximo |
| author_sort | Delgado, Luciana |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | The essential first steps of addressing the problem of food loss are measuring the loss, identifying where in the food system it occurs, and developing effective policies to mitigate it along the value chain. Food loss has been defined in many ways, and disagreement remains over proper terminology and methodology to measure it. In addition, none of the current classifications includes pre-harvest losses, such as crops lost to pests and diseases before harvest. Consequently, figures on food loss are highly inconsistent. The precise causes of food loss remain undetected, and success stories of reducing food loss are rare. We address this measurement gap by developing and testing three new measurement methodologies, as well as one traditional methodology. Our proposed methods account for losses from pre-harvest to product distribution and include both quantity losses and quality deterioration. We apply the instrument to producers, middlemen, and processors in five staple food value chains in six developing countries. Comparative results suggest that losses are highest at the producer level and most product deterioration occurs before harvest. Aggregated self-reported measures, which have been frequently used in the literature, consistently underestimate actual food losses. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace142552 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1425522025-02-24T06:48:48Z Quantity and quality food losses across the value chain: A comparative analysis Delgado, Luciana Schuster, Monica Torero, Máximo value chains economic distribution preharvest treatment supply chains capacity development food losses quality attributes categories quantitative analysis The essential first steps of addressing the problem of food loss are measuring the loss, identifying where in the food system it occurs, and developing effective policies to mitigate it along the value chain. Food loss has been defined in many ways, and disagreement remains over proper terminology and methodology to measure it. In addition, none of the current classifications includes pre-harvest losses, such as crops lost to pests and diseases before harvest. Consequently, figures on food loss are highly inconsistent. The precise causes of food loss remain undetected, and success stories of reducing food loss are rare. We address this measurement gap by developing and testing three new measurement methodologies, as well as one traditional methodology. Our proposed methods account for losses from pre-harvest to product distribution and include both quantity losses and quality deterioration. We apply the instrument to producers, middlemen, and processors in five staple food value chains in six developing countries. Comparative results suggest that losses are highest at the producer level and most product deterioration occurs before harvest. Aggregated self-reported measures, which have been frequently used in the literature, consistently underestimate actual food losses. 2021-01-01 2024-05-22T12:10:40Z 2024-05-22T12:10:40Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142552 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148474 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101974 https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/food-policy/vol/98/suppl/C https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143093 Open Access Elsevier Delgado, Luciana; Schuster, Monica; and Torero, Maximo. 2021. Quantity and quality food losses across the value chain: A comparative analysis. Food 98(January 2021): 101958. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101958 |
| spellingShingle | value chains economic distribution preharvest treatment supply chains capacity development food losses quality attributes categories quantitative analysis Delgado, Luciana Schuster, Monica Torero, Máximo Quantity and quality food losses across the value chain: A comparative analysis |
| title | Quantity and quality food losses across the value chain: A comparative analysis |
| title_full | Quantity and quality food losses across the value chain: A comparative analysis |
| title_fullStr | Quantity and quality food losses across the value chain: A comparative analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantity and quality food losses across the value chain: A comparative analysis |
| title_short | Quantity and quality food losses across the value chain: A comparative analysis |
| title_sort | quantity and quality food losses across the value chain a comparative analysis |
| topic | value chains economic distribution preharvest treatment supply chains capacity development food losses quality attributes categories quantitative analysis |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142552 |
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