In 2020, Malawi's annual estimated postharvest losses were 725,122 tonnes for maize, 19,009 tonnes for rice, 13,776 tonnes for sorghum, 5,205 tonnes for millet. The highest and lowest estimated postharvest loss percentages are 19.2% for maize and 10.7% for sorghum. The costliest estimated postharvest losses in USD are for maize: over 204 million USD.
Within the value chain the majority of loss is estimated to be happening at household-level storage for maize, at harvesting/field drying for rice, at harvesting/field drying for sorghum, at harvesting/field drying for millet. Within Malawi, the highest postharvest losses in tonnes occur for maize in Central Region, for rice in Southern Region, for sorghum in Southern Region, for millet in Southern Region. Regarding the nutritional losses, the estimated maize grain lost postharvest could have met the annual energy (kcal) dietary requirements of 3,022,997 people.
To view the list of studies used to estimate these losses, please see the References tab.
Top 4 crops with the highest production quantity in tonnes.
| Maize | Rice | Sorghum | Millet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production quantity in tonnes | 3,785,713 tonnes | 142,592 tonnes | 128,731 tonnes | 45,848 tonnes |
| Loss % | 19.2% | 13.3% | 10.7% | 11.4% |
| Losses in tonnes | 725,122 tonnes | 19,009 tonnes | 13,776 tonnes | 5,205 tonnes |
| Financial value | > 204 million USD | > 21 million USD | – | – |
| % of national agricultural GDP | – | – | – | – |
| # of people whose annual energy (kcal) requirements could have been met by the lost crop | 3,022,997 people | 79,247 people | 60,409 people | – |
See full postharvest losses data tables with loss percentage › | losses in tonnes › | losses in USD › | nutritional losses ›
See full value chain data table with estimated losses in percentage › | tonnes › | USD ›