Farm level policy measures are crucial to reduce food losses across the whole value chain, says Dr Manoj Thibbotuwawa

12 November 2024

IPS Research Fellow, Dr Manoj Thibbotuwawa highlighted that poor farm-level practices can significantly increase food losses along the entire agricultural value chain, from production to distribution as initial production losses can compound through each subsequent stage, increasing food losses. Therefore, he emphasised that improving farm-level practices by implementing training, infrastructure development, and access to better technology and markets can significantly reduce food loss and improve food security. Building on some of the findings of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project on ‘Developing Food Loss Reduction Pathways Through Smart Business Practices in Mango and Tomato Value Chains in Pakistan and Sri Lanka’, he further pointed out the importance of measuring the loss, determining where it occurs in the food system, and creating efficient strategies to reduce it along the value chain in solving the issue of food loss.

Dr Thibbotuwawa made these remarks while delivering a guest lecture on “Food Loss Mitigation in Fruits and Vegetable Value Chains” in a seminar organized by the Institute of Business Management Sciences (IBMS) of the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) in collaboration with the Pakistan Korea Nutrition Centre (PKNC). Dr Muhammad Khalid Bashir, Associate Professor, In-Charge of IBMS and Dr Abdul Ghafoor, Associate Professor of IBMS were among the speakers. The audience included academics, researchers, undergraduate and postgraduate students from UAF.

For more information of the ACIAR project visit, Food Loss Mitigation Innovation Hub (FLMIH).