Role of Agro-industry in Reducing Food Losses in the Middle

106 Pages·2012·2.54 MB·English

Role of Agro-industry in Reducing Food
Losses in the Middle East
and North Africa Region

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Role of Agro-industry in Reducing Food
Losses in the Middle East and North Africa
Region

Prepared by:

Dr. Adel A. Kader
Professor Emeritus of Postharvest Physiology
Department of Plant Sciences
University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA

Dr. Lisa Kitinoja
Postharvest Training Specialist
The Postharvest Education Foundation
La Pine, Oregon 97739, USA

Dr. Awad M. Hussein
Professor Emeritus of Postharvest Physiology
Alexandria Postharvest Center (APHC)
Department of Pomology
Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University
Alexandria, Egypt

Dr. Omar Abdin
Assistant Professor of Crop Science
Alexandria University
Alexandria, Egypt

Dr. Amer Jabarin
Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics
Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness
University of Jordan
Amman, Jordan

Dr. Ahmed E. Sidahmed
Associate Director for Development and Partnership
International Programs Office, CAES, University of California, Davis, California 95616; USA

Agro industry and Infrastructure
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Regional Office for the Near East,
Cairo, Egypt

February 2012

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Table of Contents

List of Authors……………………………………………………………………………………2

Executive Summary (Adel A. Kader)…………………………………………………………….5

1. General background on 19 MENA countries in terms of natural and financial resources, food
security and poverty index (Amer Jabarin)………………………………………………….9

2. Estimates and causes of losses during postharvest handling, processing, storage, and
distribution of locally produced and imported agronomic food crops (cereals, legumes). (Omar
Abdin)……………………………………………………………………………………………16

3. Estimates and causes of losses during postharvest handling, processing, storage, and
distribution of locally produced and imported horticultural food crops (fruits and vegetables).
(Awad M. Hussein)………………………………………………………………………………29

4. Estimates and causes of losses during postharvest handling, processing, storage, and
distribution of locally produced and imported animal source foods (dairy, meat, poultry, fish).
(Ahmed E. Sidahmed)……………………………………………………………………………36

5. Socioeconomic factors affecting postharvest losses and food waste, and scale appropriate
strategies for overcoming these factors. (Lisa Kitinoja) ………………..……………………….53

6. References……………………………………………………………………………………..77

Appendices
A. Biographical statements of authors…………………………………………………………...89
B. Background statistics on the MENA region…………………………………………………..93
C. The Gini Index………………………………………………………………………………100
D. Production and trade of animal source foods in the MENA region…………………………101
E. Morocco Traceability decrees……………………………………………………………….104

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Executive Summary

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region includes nineteen countries spread over
Asia and Africa including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya,
Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, West Bank & Gaza, and
Yemen. In terms of natural resources, the vast majority of MENA countries suffer from severe
water shortage and deterioration of water quality due to many reasons including high population
growth rate, urbanization, traditional agricultural sectors which produce traditional low value
agricultural products that demand huge volumes of water, and inefficient marketing and food
processing systems. About seventy percent of water resources in the MENA region are used for
irrigation, with declining supplies.

The MENA region is characterized as one of the major food importers in the world. The
production of cereals, the major staple food, is the lowest among all of the major crops. Also the
harvested area of cereals represents only about 3% of the total harvested area of all crops. As a
result, the MENA region is considered as the main importer of cereals in the world. In 2008, the
value of imported cereals by MENA countries amounted to US$ 28.7 billion. Iran, Egypt,
Algeria and Saudi Arabia are the largest importers of cereals in the region. In 2008, cereals
imports formed 35 percent of the total agricultural imports of the MENA region. The region‟s
dependence on imports continues to increase. In general, it is difficult to find reliable data about
the agro-industries in the region and this situation must be changed to facilitate assessment of
needs to improve quality of the produced products and to plan future developments of agro-
industries to increase self-sufficiency within the region.

Postharvest technology is an inter-disciplinary science and includes techniques applied to
agricultural produce after harvesting for its protection, conservation, processing, packaging,
distribution, marketing and utilization to meet the food and nutritional requirements of
consumers. Preventing postharvest losses, improving nutrition and adding value to food products
will generate jobs, reduce poverty and enhance food security and the growth of economy by
improving the livelihoods of people. Studies of postharvest food losses can be based on surveys
or sampling at different points between the production and consumption sites. Both quantitative
losses (loss in weight) and qualitative losses (loss in sensory quality, nutritional value, and
market value due to reduced grade) should be determined in all MENA countries. Any attempt to
reduce food losses must begin with identifying the location, magnitude, and causes of the losses
to be able to select the most appropriate intervention to reduce the losses.

Although only limited data on the magnitude of food losses in the MENA region are available, it
is generally estimated that about 15% of cereals and legumes and 33% of perishable horticultural
crops are never consumed by humans. Gustavsson et al (2011) provide a summary of current
estimated food losses by region, and report losses for the food supply chain (FSC) in North
Africa, West and Central Asia during postharvest period (including handling, packaging, storage,
processing and distribution) to be 14 to 19% for grains, 26% for roots and tubers, 16% for
oilseeds and pulses, 45% for fruits and vegetables, 13% for meats, 28% for fish and seafoods,
and 18% for dairy products. A diagram of where losses occur in the food supply chain is shown
in Figure 0.1. Reducing these losses in order to increase food availability and food security for
the MENA population is much less costly than increasing production by expanding production
area and/or productivity per hectare and/or by increasing imports.

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Figure 0.1. Diagram of where losses occur in the food supply chain (developed by Lisa Kitinoja
and Adel Kader)

Storage practices and facilities in the MENA region on the whole remain woefully inadequate.
Strategies for reducing losses and waste of agronomic food crops include: (1) drying to reduce
moisture content to below 8 to 14%, depending on the commodity ; (2) effective insect dis-
infestation and protection against re-infestation; (3) storage temperature management (storage
potential doubles for every 5 ºC reduction in temperature); (4) maintaining storage relative
humidity in equilibrium with moisture content of the product to reduce the incidence of molds;
and (5) proper sanitation procedures to minimize microbial contamination and avoid mycotoxin
formation. International development organizations and governments should give highest priority
to improving storage facilities of agronomic food crops at the national, regional, village, and
household levels in all MENA countries.

Availability and efficient use of the cold chain for perishable foods (i.e. fruits, vegetables, dairy
products, meats and fish) is much more evident in developed countries than in developing
countries, including MENA countries. Unreliability of the power supply, lack of proper
maintenance, and inefficiency of utilization of cold storage and refrigerated transport facilities
are among the reasons for failure of the cold chain in developing countries. Cost of providing the
cold chain per ton of produce depends on energy costs plus utilization efficiency of the facilities
throughout the year. The extent of proper use of the cold chain is generally greater for exported
food products than for those that are handled through modern retail distribution channels, while
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food products that are handled through the traditional marketing channels are often exposed to a
broken or no cold chain.

Strategies for reducing postharvest losses and waste of perishable foods in developing countries
include: (1) application of current knowledge to improve the food handling systems and assure
food quality and safety; (2) removing the socioeconomic constraints, such as inadequacies of
infrastructure, poor storage facilities and marketing systems, and weak research and development
capacity; and (3) overcoming the limitations of small-scale operations by encouraging
consolidation and vertical integration among producers and marketers of each commodity or
group of commodities.

The following are some examples of the recommended scale-appropriate loss reduction
interventions for horticultural food crops: (1) improved containers to better protect produce from
damage; (2) providing shade to reduce temperature and provide a natural source of cooling; (3)
improved curing of root and tuber crops; (4) use of water disinfection methods and other
sanitation procedures; (5) use of cost-effective cooling methods, such as evaporative forced air
cooling, and hydro-cooling with well water; (6) effective insect control (dis-infestation and
protection against re-infestation); (7) improved small scale storage methods such as a cold room
with a CoolBot-controlled air conditioner; and (8) improved food processing and packaging
methods.

The following are highlights of actions and strategies that could assist in the reduction of waste
and loss of animal source foods: (1) Promote the development of effective value adding steps on
the commodity value chain (input, breeding, feeding, health improvement, technology adoption,
market information, micro-finance) that provide sufficient incentives to the producers through
enhanced competitiveness and access to markets; and (2) Adopt better technologies to enhance
the effectiveness and reliability of the food supply chain (processing, transport, distribution and
consumption). Much of the needed infrastructure, both physical and institutional, remains to be
developed before food losses and food waste will be reduced. Examples include weather
forecast messages to growers, fishermen and pastoralists; community supported rural roads, cold
chains and other kinds of appropriate infrastructure for linking producer to markets.

There are many socio-economic and cultural factors affecting implementation of changes in
postharvest technology aimed at reducing food waste along the value chain. How best to address
these factors while taking into account the social and cultural norms of the MENA region is a
key element in any agro-industrial development plan. Specifics will vary by country and by type
and market value of food product, so a first step will be to better characterize local food sector
development needs on a case by case basis.

Food security and food loss reduction efforts go hand in hand with promoting improved food
safety. Recommendations include: (1) assure consumer health and food safety through
compliance with public health, food safety and other sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS)
requirements; (2) establish policies and resources for control and prevention of trans-boundary
animal diseases (cross border control and certification and zoonotic; (3) training and awareness
building of the producers, food supply chain (FSC) stakeholders about food hygiene, handling
and safety measures; (4) animal feed improvement (i.e. quality, safety e.g. dry fish feeding for
cattle in southern Yemen and the coast of Oman, preparation of fishmeal for poultry feeding); (5)
creation of salmonella free environments for the poultry sector; and mastitis free environment for
the dairy sector; (6) promote the development of appropriate cold chain infrastructure; and (7)
establish and implement an effective traceability system for all food products.
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Future actions needed to reduce postharvest food losses and enhance food security in the MENA
region include the following:
1. Survey the magnitude and causes of losses in quality and quantity during harvesting and
postharvest handling of major commodities and food products in each country in the
region (establish baseline data).
2. Encourage coordination and collaboration among FAO and other international
organizations with national organizations in capacity building activities within the
MENA region.
3. Assess locally available tools and facilities for harvesting, packaging, transport, storage,
processing and marketing of each commodity.
4. Simplify and harmonize food quality and safety standards and their enforcement within
the MENA region.
5. Determine return on investment of application of improved technologies intended to
reduce losses, maintain quality and food safety.
6. Disseminate information on scale appropriate postharvest practices and technologies to a
wide range of target audiences and end users.
7. Identify problems in the agro-industrial sector which will need further problem-solving
research to improve the quality of the products up to international standards and to
produce new products that meet consumer demands.
8. Support activities related to data collection, analysis, and evaluation aimed at continually
improving the agro-industries in the MENA region.
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1. General background on 19 MENA countries in terms of natural and
financial resources, food security, and poverty index

1.1 Introduction
The MENA region includes nineteen (19) countries spread over Asia and Africa and includes
Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, West Bank & Gaza, and Yemen. The region is
currently facing serious populist uprisings that are affecting the whole economic and social
structure of the region. The countries of the region share many common political and
socioeconomic characteristics, namely highly suppressive political systems led by long-serving
leaders and citizen anger against corruption. Demographic statistics show that about one fourth
of the population is poor and around seven percent are undernourished.

In terms of natural resources, the vast majority of MENA countries suffer from severe water
shortage and deterioration of water quality due to many reasons including high population
growth rate, urbanization, traditional agricultural sectors which produce traditional low value
agricultural products that demand huge volumes of water, and inefficient marketing and food
processing systems. About seventy percent of the water resources in the Middle East and North
Africa (MENA) region are used for irrigation, with declining supplies.

This section of the report focuses on the general background of the 19 countries in terms of
natural and financial resources, food security and poverty index.

1.2 Natural and financial resources
The total area of the MENA region countries is 1,222 million hectares. There is a huge variation
among the 19 countries of the region in terms of area. Bahrain is the smallest country with only
76 thousand hectares, while Algeria is the largest country in the region with 238 million hectares
(refer to Appendix B for a complete list in table B.1).

The development in the area devoted to agricultural land in the targeted MENA region countries
during the last two decades shows a huge variation in the agricultural lands among the different
countries. In general, the total area of agricultural land increased from 371 million hectares in
1990 to 413 million hectares in 2008 (FAO, 2010). According to these statistics, Saudi Arabia
possesses the largest amount of agricultural land while Bahrain has the smallest. (Refer to
Appendix B for a complete list in table B.2).

Despite the huge area of agricultural lands, the total arable land consists of only one fourth of the
total agricultural lands. Arable land are defined as land that can be used for growing crops, has
good production resources in terms of water supply and richness in nutrients, and is located in an
area of suitable climatic conditions. The total area of the arable lands in the region is estimated
at 55.5 million hectares as of 2008 (FAO, 2010). Table B.3 (see Appendix B) indicates that Iran
has almost one third of the total arable land in the region followed by Morocco.

1.3 Demographic characteristics
One of the demographic characteristics of the MENA region is the high population growth and
fertility rates. The total population has increased from 285 million in the year 1995 to 380
million in 2010. The region‟s total population is expected to increase to new record number of
445 and 502 million, by the years 2020 and 2030 respectively. This would mean putting too
much pressure on the limited natural resources of the region to produce more food and to meet
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the increasing demand on water for the other purposes. Actual and projected population for the
19 countries of MENA region have been reported by FAO Stats (refer to Appendix B for a
complete list in table B.4). Egypt‟s population is the highest followed by Iran. The population of
the two countries represents 42 percent of the total population of the region.

Agricultural population in the MENA region represents about 21 percent of the total population
as of 2010. The ratio varies among the different countries based on the total area of arable lands
and the level of urbanization. Egypt has the largest number of agricultural population while
Bahrain and Qatar have the lowest (refer to Appendix B for a complete list in table B.5). One of
the major challenges facing the region in meeting food demands is the lack of the skilled
agricultural labor force needed for adapting new and advanced technologies. Agricultural
education, at all levels, is still lagging behind advanced education in the MENA region as it is in
most developing countries.

1.4 Employment and agricultural labor force
The level of unemployment is a major concern facing all countries and decision makers in the
MENA region, especially non-oil producing countries. FAO Stats provides the actual and
projected total economically active population distributed by country (refer to Appendix B for a
complete list in table B.6). In 2010, the total economically active labor force amounted to 135
million individuals. Over the next 10 years an additional 29 million new laborers are expected to
enter the labor market in MENA region which means additional challenges to the current
economies. Statistics show that in 2010 the agricultural labor force formed about 20% of the total
employed individuals in the region. Iran and Egypt are the leading countries in terms of labor
force. The two countries account for 42 percent of the total labor force in the region.

An alarming signal from the records of the International Labor Organization (ILO) indicates that
the MENA region witnessed the highest unemployment rates among the developing regions both
in the 1990s and during last decade. Despite the lack of detailed numbers on unemployment in
many countries of the region, the unemployment rate has been hovering around 12%. Although it
is hard to conduct direct comparisons among the different countries due to the differences in
measurement tools used, in some countries of disturbance (i.e. Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon) the
employment rate exceeded the 15% level as indicated in table B.7. (See Appendix B)

1.5 Agricultural Production
The level of agricultural production in the MENA region varies from one country to another
depending on the land and water resources, climatic conditions, skilled labor, capital investments
and other socioeconomic factors. The available statistics classify agricultural production in the
region into the following groups:

 Hazelnuts, with shell
 Cereals
 Citrus Fruit
 Coarse Grain
 Fiber Crops Primary
 Fruit excl Melons
 Oil crops Primary
 Pulses
 Roots and Tubers
 Vegetables & Melons
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