Democratic Republic of the Congo, Maize, 2013

Democratic Republic of the Congo's estimated postharvest losses for maize in 2013 was 341,811 tonnes or 17.2% which had an estimated value of more than 144 million US dollar, which corresponds to 2.3% of national agricultural GDP.

As for nutrition 1,237 billion kcal were lost, which is the equivalent of more than 1 million people, in terms of annual nutritional dietary energy requirements. In the value chain, the majority of the loss is estimated to be happening at Harvesting/field drying, Household-level storage, and then Further drying. Highest estimated postharvest maize losses in tonnes were estimated to occur in Katanga.

To view the list of studies used to estimate these losses, please see the References tab.

Production quantity and estimated postharvest losses

Production quantity (tonnes)
Estimated postharvest losses (tonnes)

2011–2021
2011	1892655
2012	1938043
2013	1986099
2014	2035345
2015	2039008
2016	2078179
2017	2186318
2018	2186055
2019	2138962
2020	1592911

Produced	1,986,099 tonnes
Estimated postharvest losses	17.2% / 341,811 tonnes / > 144 million USD

Production quantity	Estimated postharvest losses
82.7898 Production quantity: 1,986,099 tonnes	17.2 Estimated PHL: 341,811 tonnes

See full postharvest losses data table with estimated losses in percentage › | tonnes › | USD ›

Value chain

Production quantity and estimated postharvest losses in % per value chain step. Please note that once loss has occurred at harvesting, the percentage loss in the next stage is a percentage of what remained, not of the original amount.

Estimated % of crop left
Estimated % of crop lost

	Amount remaining(%)	Estimated postharvest loss(%)
Production	100 Remaining: 100% Est. PHL: 0%	0 Remaining: 100% Est. PHL: 0%
Harvesting/field drying	93.58 Remaining: 93.58% Est. PHL: 6.42%	6.42 Remaining: 93.58% Est. PHL: 6.42%
Further drying	89.58 Remaining: 89.58% Est. PHL: 4%	4 Remaining: 89.58% Est. PHL: 4%
Threshing and Shelling	88.26 Remaining: 88.26% Est. PHL: 1.32%	1.32 Remaining: 88.26% Est. PHL: 1.32%
Transport from field	85.90286 Remaining: 85.90286% Est. PHL: 2.35714%	2.35714 Remaining: 85.90286% Est. PHL: 2.35714%
Household-level storage	80.63911 Remaining: 80.63911% Est. PHL: 5.26375%	5.26375 Remaining: 80.63911% Est. PHL: 5.26375%
Transport to market	78.98911 Remaining: 78.98911% Est. PHL: 1.65%	1.65 Remaining: 78.98911% Est. PHL: 1.65%
Market storage	76.33911 Remaining: 76.33911% Est. PHL: 2.65%	2.65 Remaining: 76.33911% Est. PHL: 2.65%

See full value chain data table with estimated losses in percentage › | tonnes › | USD ›

Nutrition

Number of people whose annual dietary requirements (in terms of energy, kcal) could have been met by consuming the maize that was lost postharvest, and what % of the focal group of the population this number equates to.

Total number

1,511,876

people, 1.8%

Children 1-3

3,438,151

children, 37.8%

Pregnant women 19-30

1,244,499

women, 125.3%

Men 31-50

1,101,728

men, 15.1%

See full nutritional impact data for Children 1–3 › | Pregnant women 19–30 › | Men 31–50 ›