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

08 September 2021

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 magnitude of postharvest loss, the points in the value chain where losses occur, and the causes and impacts of loss helps decision-makers formulate effective policies and invest in successful postharvest loss programmes. Yet many countries currently lack the means to measure and monitor postharvest losses.


The African Postharvest Losses Information System (APHLIS) (www.aphlis.net) supports decision-making to reduce postharvest food losses. This side event will show participants how to use APHLIS to quantify postharvest losses of staple crops, to understand their economic and nutritional impact, and to consider the policy and programmatic applications of postharvest loss information.


Approach

The side event will use a learning lab approach to engage participants in innovative learning, practice, and reflection. The programme includes short presentations on the features and functions of APHLIS; the role that APHLIS can play to help countries measure postharvest losses and meet their Malabo reporting requirements; and efforts to provide early warning information on climate-based risks of mycotoxin contamination. Interactive breakout group activities will bring participants together to explore APHLIS and to learn how it can be used to calculate postharvest losses and the nutritional and financial dimensions of such losses.


Learning outcomes

Following the session, participants will be able to use APHLIS to determine postharvest losses for staple food crops at national and subnational level across sub-Saharan Africa countries, including percentage weight loss, loss in tonnes and the nutritional and financial impacts of such losses. Participants will understand how such information can be used in:

  • agricultural policy formulation
  • strengthening value chains
  • improving food security
  • monitoring loss reduction activities
  • monitoring agricultural input efficiency
  • assessing the impact of food production on the environment.


For further information, contact:

Tanya Stathers t.e.stathers@gre.ac.uk or info@aphlis.net

News

Conflict and postharvest losses – the case of Ukraine
27 October 2023

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 ferti... Read more ›

Reducing postharvest losses to transform lives: the case of the sorghum value ch...
03 September 2022

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 pot... Read more ›

Global agribusiness Olam Agri works with smallholders to measure and reduce loss...
27 June 2022

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 Sustainabl... Read more ›

Policies and strategies to reduce postharvest losses in sub-Saharan Africa: prog...
18 March 2022

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 behi... Read more ›

Tracking food losses in Africa
03 November 2021

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... Read more ›

Side event at the AAPHCE: APHLIS - a tool to support postharvest loss reduction...
08 September 2021

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 Declarat... Read more ›

Postharvest loss in the era of COVID-19
11 March 2021

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... Read more ›

New APHLIS tool estimates the financial cost of postharvest losses
09 April 2020

(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 onl... Read more ›

APHLIS releases tool for measuring nutritional impacts of postharvest losses
10 December 2019

(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... Read more ›

Postharvest losses and the road to food security
02 September 2019

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... Read more ›