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Farmers’ Grain Storage and Losses in Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Bachewe Fantu
  • Minten Bart
  • Seyoum Taffesse Alemayehu
  • Pauw Karl

    (IFPRI, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

  • Cameron Alethia
  • Genye Endaylalu Tirsit

    (FAO, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

Abstract

While storage losses at the farm are often assumed to be an important contributor to presumed large postharvest losses in developing countries, reliable and representative data on these losses are often lacking. We study farmers’ storage decisions and self-reported storage losses for grains based on two large-scale household surveys conducted in major agricultural areas in Ethiopia. We show that a relatively large share of grain production is stored by farm households for own consumption and that storage technologies are rudimentary. Farmers’ self-reported storage losses amount to an average of 4 % of all grains stored and 2 % of total harvest. These storage losses differ significantly by socioeconomic variables and wealth, as well as by crop and humidity. We further see strong spatial heterogeneity in storage losses being significantly higher in southwest Ethiopia. Efforts to scale up the adoption of improved storage technologies to reduce storage losses at the farm level should consider these characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Bachewe Fantu & Minten Bart & Seyoum Taffesse Alemayehu & Pauw Karl & Cameron Alethia & Genye Endaylalu Tirsit, 2020. "Farmers’ Grain Storage and Losses in Ethiopia," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bjafio:v:18:y:2020:i:1:p:19:n:8
    DOI: 10.1515/jafio-2019-0059
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    post-harvest losses; storage; Ethiopia; Sub-Saharan Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q1 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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