Food loss and waste is a global problem that negatively impacts the bottom line of businesses and farmers, wastes limited resources, and damages the environment. The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), The Rockefeller Foundation, Iowa State University, University of Maryland, and Wageningen University and Research have partnered to establish the Consortium for Innovation in Post-Harvest Loss and Food Waste Reduction.

Through this consortium, food loss and waste thought leaders and experts from across the globe will work in tandem with industry and nonprofit organizations to address social, economic and environmental impacts from food loss and waste. Feeding a growing global population demands innovation at all levels — from planting to processing to consumption. This consortium will help farmers across the globe use technology to continue using resources effectively and efficiently. Optimizing food production and preservation practices is critical for ensuring that farmers are profitable, food is plentiful and accessible, and the environment is protected.

Due to the volume of food that is moved globally, post-harvest loss and food waste affects producers, manufacturers, distributors and consumers. More than 40% of fruits and vegetables in lower income countries spoil before they can be consumed. These goods include mangos, avocados, pineapples, cocoa, and bananas, many of which are in high demand and imported by medium and higher income countries.

Post-harvest loss and food waste negatively impacts the bottom line for farmers, who are not compensated for spoilage or loss of their products. Consumers then do not have access to these popular foods or have to pay higher prices. Additionally, food waste forces farmers to use precious natural resources producing food that either never makes it to the supermarket or is otherwise thrown out by consumers due to short shelf-life or quality issues, creating a significant drain on environmental resources.

Our consortium approach focuses on building academic and entrepreneurial capacity of the next generation by engaging researchers and students in multi-national, multi-disciplinary teams in the project identification, planning, and execution phases together with experts and entrepreneurs from the private and public sectors.

In 2016, The Rockefeller Foundation launched the YieldWise Initiative aimed at reducing both post-harvest loss in lower income countries like Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, and food waste in developed markets like the United States. In sub-Saharan Africa, YieldWise provides farmers with access to segmented markets, technologies and solutions that curb preventable crop loss, and facilitates training that helps them solidify buyer agreements with markets in African communities.

The YieldWise Initiative incorporates the following four action pillars:

1. Access to technologies: promoting the adoption of appropriate loss-reducing technologies.
2. Access to finance: collaborating with financial institutions to develop credit products that can be accessed by farmers and farmer-based organizations.
3. Aggregation and training: training farmers and other supply chain actors in post-harvest management and facilitating development of local aggregation centers.
4. Access to markets: stimulating demand by engaging actors across the diverse ecosystem of buyers.

Across these pillars, as appropriate, the YieldWise Initiative engages both the private sector as key partners and government entities for collaboration. Early results are encouraging, indicating loss reduction of between 20 – 30 percent, according to maize and mango catalytic demonstrations. More farmers are being connected to various market channels, which have provided assured markets for their produce. YieldWise is currently working with approximately 200,000 farmers. This has also contributed to a high uptake and utilization of loss-reducing technologies across the three value chains: maize, mango, and tomato in Tanzania, Kenya, and Nigeria, respectively (https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/our-work/initiatives/yieldwise/).

While long a feature of Kenyan agriculture, mango farming has expanded considerably in recent years. For example, in the five years between 2012 and 2016:

· The mango production area has expanded by 18.5%, exceeding 49,000 hectares in 2016.

· Mango production increased by 35.8% to reach almost 780,000 tons in 2016.

· Impressively, gross revenues from mango production jumped by 91.3%, with 2016 revenues of nearly 12,000 KES millions.

Analysis of data collected by the Yieldwise Initiative indicates that 75.2% of farmers in Embu county, Kenya produced (net) and sold up to 11,613 mangos (per farmer) in one recent season. About two-thirds (65%) of farmers lost up to 308 mangos (per farmer) during harvest. About that same number (65.8%) lost up to 2,446 mangos during post-harvest handling. On average, individual farmers in Embu county experienced an average harvest and post-harvest loss of 2.9% and 18.8%, respectively, or 21.7% total during that season.

As a result of participating in the YieldWise Initiative, small-holder mango producers adopted a number of proven technologies and practices that increased production of mangos and reduced losses of mangos during harvest and post-harvest handling. For example, fruit fly traps were adopted by 22,561 farmers and resulted in average yield increases of 90 more mangos harvested per tree. Harvesting tools and tarps were adopted by 11,746 and 12,683 farmers, respectively. This allowed farmers to reach mangos higher up in trees more effectively and avoided them dropping to the ground and getting damaged. Damaged mangos spoil more quickly and may be refused by the buyer due to visible bruising. Placing harvested mangos on tarps instead of on the ground prevents contact with soil and potential spoilage agents that could result in quality deterioration. Crates and racks were adopted by 13,619 and 8,809 farmers, respectively. This allowed for easier post-harvest handling, including carrying, stacking, and transporting of mangos. This prevented them from becoming bruised, damaged, and spoiled. Relatively fewer farmers accessed cold stores (2,095) or processed mangos by slicing and drying them (910). These more intensive post-harvest preservation and value-adding processing steps not only require extra labor, but also investments in fixed assets that typically go beyond the financial means of individual farmers. However, farmer-based organizations can pool resources and invest in a shared cold storage room that extends the marketing window and provides more leverage to negotiate better prices with traders. Similarly, dried sliced mangos that are also packaged provides farmer-based organizations in selling value-added, shelf-stable produce directly to wholesalers, retailers, or consumers. This can bypass traders and result in farmers fetching much higher prices well beyond the immediate harvest season compared to selling fresh mangos.

Food loss and waste highlights the inefficiencies in our food system. According to FAO, nearly 1.3 billion tons of food — valued at roughly $940 billion — are either lost or wasted yearly, generating about 8% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. Food is lost more at the consumption stage in higher-income countries, while more food is lost at handling and storage stages in lower-income regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America.

The consortium will work collaboratively to develop a scalable approach for adoption of the YieldWise model and provide farmers with cost-effective strategies and technologies that link their crop supply to the market demand. This will allow farmers to gain more value from their crops and become more profitable, while also stimulating local economic growth and improving the resiliency of rural communities.

Participating institutions include The Rockefeller Foundation, Iowa State University, University of Maryland, USA; Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands; Zamorano University, Honduras; University of São Paulo, Brazil; Stellenbosch University, South Africa; University of Nairobi, Kenya; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana; and the Volcani Center, Israel.