About APHLIS

The African Postharvest Losses Information System (APHLIS) is the foremost international effort to collect, analyze and disseminate data on postharvest losses of cereal grains in sub-Saharan Africa. In its latest phase, known as APHLIS+, the service is expanding the range of crops it covers to include legumes and roots and tubers. APHLIS+ includes estimates of the economic and nutritional dimensions of postharvest loss. APHLIS+ will also improve the interactive tools for accessing loss data and will expand its network of African experts.

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How APHLIS estimates loss

APHLIS provides evidence-based data on postharvest loss at a large scale that would be prohibitively expensive to obtain by direct observation. It does this by combining loss data from academic research with contextual observations from local experts.

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Explore the data

Data tables

View loss estimates of all crops for a specific country or region. Compare the losses of different crops within a country. View data for all crops in a given location over time, or across value chain steps for a single year.

Maps

View postharvest losses per crop and per year on an interactive map. Zoom in to the region of your interest and switch between map layers to discover if rain at harvest, presence of large grain borer, or climate classification might be affecting losses.

Help

Watch the video and learn how to use APHLIS to find postharvest loss estimates for sub-Saharan Africa. Find answers to the most asked questions about the data platform and test your knowledge.

APHLIS news

Conflict and postharvest losses – the case of Ukraine

Eighteen months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the world faces a massive hunger crisis. The invasion has caused immense suffering for the Ukrainian people and has led to food, fuel, and fertilizer shortages and historically high food prices around the world. This has intensified the global food insecurity arising...

Global agribusiness Olam Agri works with smallholders to measure and reduce losses at and after harvest in agri-supply chains

With a focus on high-growth emerging markets, Olam Agri, the food, feed and fibre global agri-business is determined to improve the sustainability of its supply chains. As a champion of Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, which calls for a reduction in food losses, Olam Agri is committed to reducing harvest and...

Tracking food losses in Africa

APHLIS is assisting four African countries to estimate the postharvest losses of major root and tuber food crops, a first step in developing more sustainable and efficient food systems. Working with partners in Nigeria, Togo, Tanzania and Uganda, the project is investigating cassava and sweetpotato, crops that are critical to...

Postharvest loss in the era of COVID-19

Exactly a year ago, the World Health Organization formally named COVID-19 a pandemic. Since then, the virus has swept across the world, leaving over 100 million cases and 2.5 million reported deaths in its wake. In almost every country, the pandemic has forced trade-offs between containing the virus and managing...

APHLIS releases tool for measuring nutritional impacts of postharvest losses

(updated on 20 March 2020 and 25 February 2021) Postharvest losses do not only squander food, and the land, water, labour and other inputs used to grow crops. A new APHLIS tool reveals the considerable impacts of such losses on the nutritional requirements of people. Postharvest losses can affect nutrient...

Understanding the role of gender in postharvest loss

One of the greatest challenges for agricultural research and development is to feed the world’s growing population – expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 – while crop yields are increasingly threatened by the changing climate. Most of the attention around this challenge focuses on improving production, yet reducing postharvest...

Using postharvest loss data to support food policy in sub-Saharan Africa: The role of APHLIS

APHLIS leads the effort to increase the use of scientific information to inform postharvest loss reduction policies at national and international levels. The Malabo Declaration commits African governments to cutting their postharvest losses in half by 2025. (Image: Pecold/ Shutterstock) In December 2018, APHLIS hosted a masterclass for scientists and...

APHLIS welcomes ambassadors from 23 African nations

Postharvest loss experts from sub-Saharan Africa met in Rwanda in August to consider the challenges involved in collecting data on postharvest losses. Participants pledged their commitment to finding solutions, including by raising awareness about the harmful impacts of such losses among policy-makers, donors and agricultural researchers. Postharvest experts from sub-Saharan...

APHLIS contributes to tracking of Sustainable Development Goals

APHLIS+ lead Dr Bruno Tran (NRI) and core team member Prof Brighton Mvumi (University of Zimbabwe) attended an Expert Consultation on Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 "Measurement and action to meet the target on reducing food loss and food waste" in Rome during 28 th – 29 th September. The...

Improving postharvest practices in Rwanda

Agriculture is the backbone of Rwanda’s economy, accounting for 80% of employment, mostly on smallholder farms. Agriculture meets 90% of national food needs and generates more than 50% of the country’s export revenues. Following the devastation of the 1994 genocide, the government allocated significant resources to agricultural development, achieving large increases...

Reducing postharvest losses to transform lives: the case of the sorghum value chain in Northern Ghana

Sorghum is a critical crop in Ghana, both for food security and as a source of household income. Mainly grown by smallholders, it is an energy-rich staple that contains essential minerals such as potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. In Northern Ghana, brewing sorghum to produce a traditional beer (pito) is an...

Policies and strategies to reduce postharvest losses in sub-Saharan Africa: progress and challenges

The need for more rigorous efforts to reduce postharvest losses is widely recognized. However, policy formulation and implementation are still very slow. Understanding and addressing the reasons behind the slow pace of progress – which include the lack of comprehensive loss data – is key to enabling countries to develop...

Side event at the AAPHCE: APHLIS - a tool to support postharvest loss reduction - Monday, 13 September 2021, 15:00-17:30 EAT

This side event is open to all AAPHCE participants. Introduction Substantial crop losses occur at various stages along the postharvest value chain. The African Union’s Malabo Declaration and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals call on countries to significantly reduce postharvest losses by the end of the decade. Understanding the...

New APHLIS tool estimates the financial cost of postharvest losses

(financial values updated 29 July 2022 according to updated price data) Postharvest losses are widely understood to have serious financial consequences for farmers. Such losses waste not only food, but also the land, water, labour and other inputs used in agricultural production. The African Postharvest Losses Information System (APHLIS) has...

Postharvest losses and the road to food security

Food loss includes the physical loss of food as well as quality losses that can diminish the economic value of a crop, or make it unsuitable for human consumption. Food waste, by contrast, refers to food that is discarded or used for non-food purposes, despite being safe and nutritious for...

New map series to warn of aflatoxin risks

APHLIS is producing a series of maps that provide early warning information on climate-based risks of aflatoxin contamination, a major threat to plant, animal and human health A powerful poison The map shows — for each province — the percentage of periods prior to harvest (over the years from 2004...

Climate change and postharvest loss

Stemming postharvest loss will be critical if we are to feed the world in the face of a changing climate. At the same time, climate change is creating conditions that could make postharvest loss an even greater challenge. Efforts to reduce postharvest loss are critical in the face of climate...

Bellagio Statement on Postharvest Management

Improving crop postharvest management at scale will reduce losses, improving food and nutrition security and incomes...

Introducing the new APHLIS website

Welcome to the first in a series of releases to improve the accessibility of APHLIS data, and present new outputs being developed under APHLIS+ . This first release introduces our new website design and provides basic access to APHLIS loss estimates via the country- and crop-focussed datatables. Future releases will...

Estimating nutritional postharvest losses – the Nutri-P-Loss project

The amount of food lost or wasted after harvest adds up to 1.3 billion tonnes every year. These losses have a major impact on economic and food security, especially for people in the developing world. Now, a new project is helping us to understand the nutritional implications of postharvest losses...

EMM news feeds

Postharvest losses related news feeds developed by APHLIS and the Europe Media Monitor.

Full postharvest losses news feed ›

Full mycotoxin news feed ›

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