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Postharvest Losses and their Determinants: A Challenge to Creating a Sustainable Cooking Banana Value Chain in Uganda

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  • Enoch Mutebi Kikulwe

    (Bioversity International, Susan Ajambo Bioversity, P. O. Box 24384 Kampala, Uganda)

  • Stanslus Okurut

    (School of Agricultural Sciences, Makerere University, P. O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda)

  • Susan Ajambo

    (Bioversity International, Susan Ajambo Bioversity, P. O. Box 24384 Kampala, Uganda)

  • Kephas Nowakunda

    (National Agricultural Research Laboratories of the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), P. O. Box 7065 Kampala, Uganda)

  • Dietmar Stoian

    (Bioversity International, Parc Scientifique Agropolis II, 34397 Montpellier, France)

  • Diego Naziri

    (International Potato Center (CIP), 100000 Hanoi, Vietnam
    Natural Resources Institute (NRI), University of Greenwich, Chatham ME4 4TB, UK)

Abstract

Postharvest losses (PHL) result in direct food and income losses to farmers and consumers globally. PHL reduction strategies offer unique opportunities to contribute to sustainable food systems for increased food security and farm incomes for more than 200 million food insecure people in sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of empirical information remains a major challenge to operationalization of PHL reduction strategies in many countries of the region. This paper utilizes cross-sectional data to determine the extent and factors that are influencing postharvest losses in the cooking-banana value chain in Uganda. We find that 14.9% of all the cooking bananas that are produced in Uganda suffer postharvest deterioration along the value chain (7.2% of the bananas deteriorate completely and have no residual value, while 7.7% deteriorate partially and are sold at discounted prices), mostly affecting retailers. At farm level, female headed households experience more losses than those headed by males. Household headship, household size, proportion of land allocated to banana production, and monthly banana production are the principal determinants of PHL at farm level. At retail level, such losses are mainly determined by sex of the vendor and group membership. The findings call for comprehensive and gender-responsive PHL reduction strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Enoch Mutebi Kikulwe & Stanslus Okurut & Susan Ajambo & Kephas Nowakunda & Dietmar Stoian & Diego Naziri, 2018. "Postharvest Losses and their Determinants: A Challenge to Creating a Sustainable Cooking Banana Value Chain in Uganda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-19, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:7:p:2381-:d:156956
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    4. Siphiw’okuhle Nohamba & Joseph P. Musara & Yonas T. Bahta & Abiodun A. Ogundeji, 2022. "Drivers of Postharvest Loss among Citrus Farmers in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa: A Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP) Regression Model Analysis," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-19, October.
    5. Kulwijila, Mary, 2021. "Socio-Economic Determinants of Post-Harvest Losses in the Grape Value Chain in Dodoma Municipality and Chamwino District, Tanzania," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 9(2), April.
    6. Esther Gloria Mbabazi & Enoch M. Kikulwe & Joseph Lule Kyanjo & Nasser Mulumba & Edward Kato & Elisabetta Gotor, 2024. "Has Continued Exposure to Banana Xanthomonas Wilt Worsened Farmers’ Welfare Over Time? Evidence From Banana-Producing Households in Uganda," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(11), pages 1-11, April.
    7. Lucy Mulugo & Florence Birungi Kyazze & Paul Kibwika & Bonaventure Aman Omondi & Enoch Mutebi Kikulwe, 2020. "Seed Security Factors Driving Farmer Decisions on Uptake of Tissue Culture Banana Seed in Central Uganda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Phi-Hung Nguyen, 2023. "A Fully Completed Spherical Fuzzy Data-Driven Model for Analyzing Employee Satisfaction in Logistics Service Industry," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-34, May.
    9. Thiago Guilherme Péra & Fernando Vinícius da Rocha & José Vicente Caixeta Filho, 2023. "Tracking Food Supply Chain Postharvest Losses on a Global Scale: The Development of the Postharvest Loss Information System," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-14, October.
    10. Bedru B. Balana & Crystal N. Aghadi & Adebayo I. Ogunniyi, 2022. "Improving livelihoods through postharvest loss management: evidence from Nigeria," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(1), pages 249-265, February.
    11. Luciana Delgado & Monica Schuster & Maximo Torero, 2021. "On the origins of food loss," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 750-780, June.
    12. Lucy Mulugo & Paul Kibwika & Florence Birungi Kyazze & Aman Omondi Bonaventure & Enoch Kikulwe, 2022. "The contestations of diversity, culture and commercialization: why tissue culture technology alone cannot solve the banana Xanthomonas wilt problem in central Uganda," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(3), pages 1141-1158, September.
    13. Klara Strecker & Verena Bitzer & Froukje Kruijssen, 2022. "Critical stages for post-harvest losses and nutrition outcomes in the value chains of bush beans and nightshade in Uganda," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(2), pages 411-426, April.

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