sector. Therefore, reducing PHL clearly complements other
efforts to enhance food security through improved farm-level
productivity
While the gains from reducing postharvest losses can be
significant, there are also costs associated with those efforts,
which need to be considered when formulating PHL
reduction strategies. Nevertheless, there are significant opportunities for promoting food security through PHL reduction,
especially in the current era of high food prices.
Thus, efforts to increase production need to be balanced
with corresponding efforts to achieve gains in reducing PHL.
With only 1 percent reduction in PHL, annual benefi ts of
US$40 million may be possible, benefi ting not only producers
but also other actors along the chain, including SSA consumers.
Viewed in a different perspective, an annual value loss estimate of US$4billion (i) exceeds the total value of cereal
food aid SSA received over the last decade;5 (ii) equates
to the annual value of cereal imports of SSA, which range
annually between US$3–7 billion over the 2000–07 period;
and (iii) is equivalent to the annual caloric requirement of at
least 48 million people (at 2,500 kcal per person per day).