Onions are a popular product in Bangladesh, mostly used as spices to give aroma, taste and flavor to food. Onions are used in all types of curries and salads being prepared on a daily basis in homekitchens and restaurants. Generally for vegetable supply chains in Bangladesh, post-harvest losses and shrinkage are considered main weaknesses and losses are estimated to be higher than 5%. Food Loss and Waste (FLW) studies for onion in Bangladesh are scarce but indicate that the loss percentage increases with the length of the supply chain. An opportunity for the onion supply chain in Bangladesh is to work towards reducing food losses at various links of the chain. This onion value chain analysis in Bangladesh is performed as a first step with the aim to develop a strategic action agenda on the onion supply chain for the four city corporations in Dhaka. It focusses on identifying the leverage points for reducing food losses for onions in order to improve the performance of the onion value chain and thereby to increase the amount of onions that reach consumers and enhance food availability. This strategic action agenda focusses on the (post-)harvest supply chain up to and including food retail and processing.The analysis of the onion value chain is drafted based upon data and information gathered in two literature studies, a workshop conducted with multiple actors in the supply chain and extensive interviews conducted with individual actors in the supply chain. The interviewees included agricultural producers, intermediaries and truck drivers in Kushtia, Pabna, Faridpur, Rajshahi and Rajbari districts, and wholesalers, retailers, mobile vendors and institutional users located in Dhaka North, Dhaka South, Narayanganj and Gazipur city corporation area.Part of the produced onions cannot be sold or do not meet the right quality, and do not go to the intended market. Products that do not have the right quality for the intended market are used for home consumption, charity, animal feed or landfill. Losses occur during harvesting, since some onions were harvested immature, onions were perished or damaged during the harvesting activity, or the agricultural producers remain with unsold onions. Onions in Bangladesh spoil quickly due to the poor quality onions due to wrong use of inputs, and the high moisture content due to improper drying. The economic losses at agricultural producers are estimated at 2.4% of the total production volume. The highest economic losses in the post-harvest supply chain occur at mobile vendors (4.6% of total input volume) and retailers (4.1% of total input volume), since they most often lack the ability to sell all onions before spoiling. Overall low quality onions will perish in time and often express itself later in the supply chain. This forces agricultural producers and other actors to sell their onions quickly after harvest or purchasing, and limit their ability to store the onions till after the peak supply to get a better price.Other challenges related to the post-harvest supply chain originate...

Livestock products are increasingly important in Bangladeshi diets. In developing countries including Bangladesh, the consumption of beef, mutton and chicken products grew with 5.8% per year over the last decade. In 2011 the amount of food loss and waste (FLW) for meat produced and consumed in South and Southeast Asia was estimated at 20% of the initial production. The FLW of beef in this region leads to 64,983,911 tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually, which makes beef one of the hotspots for GHG emissions worldwide. In order to increase the amounts of food that reaches consumers, it is relevant to study where at various links of supply chains FLW takes place. FLW studies for beef in Bangladesh are scarce. An opportunity for the beef supply chain in Bangladesh is to work towards reducing food losses at various links of the chain. Understanding the flow of food to and within the metropolitan areas and the interaction between food producers, logistics service providers, wholesalers and retailers, and the various actors is necessary to facilitate the development of a secure, sustainable and resilient food system for the megacities. This beef value chain analysis in Bangladesh is performed as a first step with the aim to develop a strategic action agenda on the beef supply chain for the four city corporations in Dhaka. The ultimate goal is to decrease food loss and waste (FLW) with 5% and increase food availability. This value chain analysis focusses on the (post-) harvest supply chain till and including retail and processing.The analysis of the beef value chain is drafted based upon data and information gathered in a literature study, workshop conducted with multiple actors in the supply chain and extensive interviews conducted with individual actors in the supply chain. The interviewees included agricultural producers, intermediaries and truck drivers in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Pabna, Sirajgonj and Faridpur districts, and wholesalers, retailers, mobile vendors, institutional users and abattoirs located in Dhaka North, Dhaka South, Narayanganj and Gazipur city corporation area.Part of the live cattle and part of the beef cannot be sold and do not go to the intended market. The losses for agricultural producers are estimated at 8% for breeding cattle, 21% of the calves and 2% of the fattening cattle. The main reasons for losses of live cattle at producer level are high mortality rates due to stillborn, weak calves, illnesses and diseases. At intermediary level the losses are estimated at 15%, and mortality of the fattening cattle happen due to diseases or illnesses, or due to injuries during transportation. Wholesalers and retailers process live cattle into beef and the actors indicated that between 60-80% of the carcass can be used for human consumption. Losses that occurred due to the slaughtering and processing activity were overall less than 5% and often occurred due to bad work accuracy of the employees or a bad quality of the meat. However, often this part of the beef can still be sold on the urban food ...