Measuring postharvest losses at the farm level in Malawi

This article measures farm‐level postharvest losses for maize, soya and groundnuts among 1,200 households in Malawi. Farmers answered a detailed questionnaire designed to learn about losses during harvest and transport, processing and storage and which measures both complete losses and crop damage....

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Main Authors: Ambler, Kate, de Brauw, Alan, Godlonton, Susan
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145413
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author Ambler, Kate
de Brauw, Alan
Godlonton, Susan
author_browse Ambler, Kate
Godlonton, Susan
de Brauw, Alan
author_facet Ambler, Kate
de Brauw, Alan
Godlonton, Susan
author_sort Ambler, Kate
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This article measures farm‐level postharvest losses for maize, soya and groundnuts among 1,200 households in Malawi. Farmers answered a detailed questionnaire designed to learn about losses during harvest and transport, processing and storage and which measures both complete losses and crop damage. The findings indicate that fewer than half of households report suffering losses conditional on growing each crop. Conditional on losses occurring, the loss averages between 5 and 12 per cent of the farmer's total harvest. Compared to nationally representative data that measure losses using a single survey question, this study documents a far greater percentage of farmers experiencing losses. We find that losses are concentrated in harvest and processing activities for groundnuts and maize; for soya, they are highest during processing. Existing interventions have primarily targeted storage activities; however, these results suggest that targeting other activities may be worthwhile.
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spelling CGSpace1454132025-02-24T06:49:39Z Measuring postharvest losses at the farm level in Malawi Ambler, Kate de Brauw, Alan Godlonton, Susan groundnuts sustainable development goals surveys maize soybeans smallholders crop losses postharvest losses This article measures farm‐level postharvest losses for maize, soya and groundnuts among 1,200 households in Malawi. Farmers answered a detailed questionnaire designed to learn about losses during harvest and transport, processing and storage and which measures both complete losses and crop damage. The findings indicate that fewer than half of households report suffering losses conditional on growing each crop. Conditional on losses occurring, the loss averages between 5 and 12 per cent of the farmer's total harvest. Compared to nationally representative data that measure losses using a single survey question, this study documents a far greater percentage of farmers experiencing losses. We find that losses are concentrated in harvest and processing activities for groundnuts and maize; for soya, they are highest during processing. Existing interventions have primarily targeted storage activities; however, these results suggest that targeting other activities may be worthwhile. 2018-01-10 2024-06-21T09:04:28Z 2024-06-21T09:04:28Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145413 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148002 Limited Access Wiley Ambler, Kate; de Brauw, Alan; and Godlonton, Susan. 2018. Measuring postharvest losses at the farm level in Malawi. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource 62(1). Economics. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8489.12237
spellingShingle groundnuts
sustainable development goals
surveys
maize
soybeans
smallholders
crop losses
postharvest losses
Ambler, Kate
de Brauw, Alan
Godlonton, Susan
Measuring postharvest losses at the farm level in Malawi
title Measuring postharvest losses at the farm level in Malawi
title_full Measuring postharvest losses at the farm level in Malawi
title_fullStr Measuring postharvest losses at the farm level in Malawi
title_full_unstemmed Measuring postharvest losses at the farm level in Malawi
title_short Measuring postharvest losses at the farm level in Malawi
title_sort measuring postharvest losses at the farm level in malawi
topic groundnuts
sustainable development goals
surveys
maize
soybeans
smallholders
crop losses
postharvest losses
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145413
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