Estimating post-harvest loss at the farm level to enhance food security: A case of Nepal
Abstract
Food security is a major concern of the world in the context of
increasing population, changing climate and declining scarce natural resources.
Reducing food loss is equally important as increasing food production and
productivity to feed the world, where 9.7 billion inhabitants were expected by
2050. Food loss can occur at several points along the food chain, however,
harvest loss at the farm level is often overlooked which is directly impacting
on sustainability. The paper attempts to estimate harvest loss at the farm
level. A household survey was executed in 300 households from ten sample
districts across Nepal. The percentage of harvest loss at the farm level was
calculated for each crop grown as per - the season, per plot and priority.
Likewise, the multiple regression was executed to determine the level of
influence of the socio-economic factors on the post-harvest loss at the farm
level for the major crops. The mean harvest loss at the farm level found around
5 percent for the reported crops. The multiple regression model demonstrated
that at the farm level, socio-economic factors might have a smaller influence
on harvest loss as compared to physical and biological contributing factors. Nevertheless,
reducing the post-harvest loss will increase food availability and thus the
food security.
Keywords
Food loss,Post-harvest Loss,Food Security,Sustainability,Nepal
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