Side event at the AAPHCE: APHLIS - a tool to support postharvest loss reduction - Monday, 13 September 2021, 15:00-17:30 EAT

This side event is open to all AAPHCE participants.

Introduction

Substantial crop losses occur at various stages along the postharvest value chain. The African Union’s Malabo Declaration and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals call on countries to significantly reduce postharvest losses by the end of the decade. Understanding the magnitude of postharvest loss, the points in the value chain where losses occur, and the causes and impacts of loss helps decision-makers formulate effective policies and invest in successful postharvest loss programmes. Yet many countries currently lack the means to measure and monitor postharvest losses.

The African Postharvest Losses Information System (APHLIS) (www.aphlis.net) supports decision-making to reduce postharvest food losses. This side event will show participants how to use APHLIS to quantify postharvest losses of staple crops, to understand their economic and nutritional impact, and to consider the policy and programmatic applications of postharvest loss information.

Approach

The side event will use a learning lab approach to engage participants in innovative learning, practice, and reflection. The programme includes short presentations on the features and functions of APHLIS; the role that APHLIS can play to help countries measure postharvest losses and meet their Malabo reporting requirements; and efforts to provide early warning information on climate-based risks of mycotoxin contamination. Interactive breakout group activities will bring participants together to explore APHLIS and to learn how it can be used to calculate postharvest losses and the nutritional and financial dimensions of such losses.

Learning outcomes

Following the session, participants will be able to use APHLIS to determine postharvest losses for staple food crops at national and subnational level across sub-Saharan Africa countries, including percentage weight loss, loss in tonnes and the nutritional and financial impacts of such losses. Participants will understand how such information can be used in:

• agricultural policy formulation
• strengthening value chains
• improving food security
• monitoring loss reduction activities
• monitoring agricultural input efficiency
• assessing the impact of food production on the environment.

For further information, contact:

Tanya Stathers t.e.stathers@gre.ac.uk or info@aphlis.net