In search of economically significant food losses: Evidence from Tunisia

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dc.contributor.authorAnriquez, Gustavo
dc.contributor.authorFoster, William
dc.contributor.authorOrtega, Jorge
dc.contributor.authorRocha, Jozimo Santos
dc.date.accessioned2024-01-10T14:22:34Z
dc.date.available2024-01-10T14:22:34Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.description.abstractLarge estimates of food losses among farms and intermediaries publicized recently by several international organizations invite the question: Why do economic decision makers live with such losses? The intuitive, economic response would be that the marginal benefits of loss reduction do not exceed the marginal costs. This paper analyzes the possibility that economically significant losses nevertheless might be occurring at the farm and wholesale levels in two cases that have drawn attention in the Near East and North Africa. In Tunisia, concerns exist that farm equipment, especially harvesting equipment, is a major source of wheat losses in a country for which the grain plays an important role in diets and the national import bill. Our analysis finds that smaller wheat farms do have relatively large physical losses, compared to large farms, attributable to the use of older and imperfectly adjusted harvesting equipment. Nevertheless, given the scale of most operations in Tunisia, there is little incentive for farmers to make the specific investments that would significantly reduce losses. In Egypt, local experts have focused on large post-harvest losses of tomatoes, an important crop, largely produced by small-scale farmers. We examine the effectiveness of plastic crates for reducing food losses in harvesting, transport and storage as compared to traditional palm crates. We find that there is perhaps a marginal gain to be had in terms of the value of losses avoided, but such gains are likely within a margin that makes adoption of plastic economically ambiguous.
dc.description.funderItalian Agency for Development Cooperation
dc.fechaingreso.objetodigital25-03-2024
dc.format.extent12 páginas
dc.fuente.origenWOS
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101912
dc.identifier.eissn1873-5657
dc.identifier.issn0306-9192
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101912
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorio.uc.cl/handle/11534/79962
dc.identifier.wosidWOS:000649475600009
dc.information.autorucFacultad de Agronomía e Ingenieria Forestal; Anriquez Nilson, Gustavo Adolfo; S/I; 80995
dc.language.isoen
dc.nota.accesocontenido parcial
dc.publisherELSEVIER SCI LTD
dc.revistaFOOD POLICY
dc.rightsacceso restringido
dc.subjectFood Losses
dc.subjectPost-Harvest Losses
dc.subjectTomatoes
dc.subjectWheat
dc.subjectTunisia
dc.subjectEgypt
dc.subjectCost-benefit
dc.subjectREDUCTION
dc.subjectWASTE
dc.subject.ods12 Responsible Consumption and Production
dc.subject.ods11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
dc.subject.odspa12 Producción y consumo responsable
dc.subject.odspa11 Ciudades y comunidades sostenibles
dc.titleIn search of economically significant food losses: Evidence from Tunisia
dc.typeartículo
dc.volumen98
sipa.codpersvinculados80995
sipa.indexWOS
sipa.trazabilidadCarga SIPA;09-01-2024
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