africa

Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
many situations, the food processing industry lacks the capacity to process and
preserve enough fresh farm produce to meet the demand; part of the problem stems
from the seasonality of production and the cost of investing in processing facilities
that will not be used year round. However in some instances, processing facilities
themselves are a major source of waste. This happens mainly during trimming, which
removes both edible portions (e.g. skin, fat, peels, end pieces) and inedible portions
(e.g. bones, pith). Processing losses could also occur from technical or equipment
malfunctions during the production process, though these may be difficult to avoid
(Gunders, 2012). In many developing countries, investment and capacity-building
initiatives are essential to improving processing facilities.
Table 25.1: Estimated Percentages of Losses and Wastage for Various
Commodity Groups in the Food Supply Chains in Sub-Saharan Africa
Source: FAO, 2011.
25.2.2 Deficiencies in markets and market infrastructure
Another major source of food waste is variance between demand and supply for
food products. Its causes range from farmers not finding a market for their products
and leaving them to rot in the field, middlemen changing the quantity ordered, or
supermarkets downsizing product orders at the last minute, leaving producers with
unsalable products (Lipinski and others, 2013). Information asymmetry due to miscommunication,
perverse signals, and incentives all along the supply chain results
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