Soil technology and post-harvest losses in Nigeria

Abstract

PurposePost-harvest losses are becoming a huge issue worldwide and are predominantly severe in developing countries. Seeking ways to control post-harvest losses is important because losses decrease farm income by more than 15% for approximately 480 million small-scale farmers.Design/methodology/approachThe study engaged Wave 4 (2018/2019) of the Living Standards Measurement Studies–Integrated Survey on Agriculture, to examine the impact of soil technology such as fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides and certified crops on post-harvest losses in Nigeria. The study engaged descriptive statistics, logit regression and propensity score matching (PSM) to analyse the data.FindingsThe study found that approximately 38% of the household harvest was lost along the value chain. In addition, the results showed that among the indicators of soil technology, crop certification has a significant impact on the reduction of post-harvest losses. The implication is that from the nearest neighbour and kernel-based matching, the use of certified crops by households contributed to 1.62 and 1.36% reduction in post-harvest losses, respectively. In contrast, pesticide, herbicide and fertiliser use had no significant impact on post-harvest losses.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the limitations is that this study applied the PSM, the model did not account for endogeneity. Therefore, in examining this concept, further studies should consider applying other impact model such as the difference-in-difference to account for endogeneity.Originality/valueWhile previous studies have examined how ICT adoption, storage mechanisms and value chain among others help to minimise post-harvest losses, the aspect of how soil technology can reduce post-harvest losses has been a subject of exclusion in the extant literature. This study empirically examines the impact of soil technology adoption on post-harvest losses in Nigeria.

Financial inclusion and post-harvest losses in West African economic and Monetary Union

“…Post-harvest losses (PHL) constitute a global problem because food losses and waste are estimated at 1.3 billion tons per year (Santosdos et al ., 2020; Osabohien, 2022). The concept of post-harvest losses can be used interchangeably with food loss and waste (Bendinelli et al ., 2020; Chaboud and Daviron, 2017; Sheahan and Barrett, 2017).…”

“…The global population is on the increase and is estimated to rise to about 9 billion by 2050 (United Nations, 2021). With the increase in population globally, the damage of a looming food crisis may be unavoidable, except food production is increased by 70% to commensurate population growth (FAO et al ., 2019; Osabohien, 2022; Osabohien et al ., 2020). This may pose a threat to the actualisation of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of no poverty (SDG1) and food security (SGD2) (United Nations, 2021).…”

“…Efforts geared towards the achievement of food and nutrition security have been seen to be hampered by post-harvest losses. The problems of post-harvest losses are progressively becoming huge across the globe and most severe in developing countries (Hengsdijk and de Boer, 2017; Kasso and Bekele, 2018; Osabohien, 2022).…”

“…Globally, about 33.3%, estimated at 1.3bt of food, equivalent to $1b, are lost in post-harvest processes annually (World Bank, 2020). For Africa, post-harvest losses are estimated at above 30% (Gebreegziabher and Van Kooten, 2020; Osabohien, 2022). This may pose a constraint to the actualisation of the goal of “no hunger” (UN, SDG2) by 2030.…”

“…This may pose a constraint to the actualisation of the goal of “no hunger” (UN, SDG2) by 2030. This is based on the fact that food losses decrease farm income by 15% for about 480 million smallholder farmers (World Bank, 2020; Osabohien, 2022). Reduction in post-harvest is highly necessary to achieve food security and improved household welfare and livelihood, because, every 1% reduction in post-harvest loss results in about $40m returns in future foods (Osabohien, 2022; World Bank, 2020).…”