Professor Dirk Maier, Professor and Head of the Department of Grain Science and Industry at Kansas State University, presents "Ensuring Food Security through the Reduction of Postharvest Loss and Food Waste" at the Creator Space™ Science Symposium in Chicago.

1. Ensuring Food Security through the Reduction of
Post-Harvest Loss and Food Waste
BASF 150 Year Science Symposium
Sustainable Food Chain
Chicago, USA
June 23-24, 2015
Dirk E. Maier, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor, Grain Science & Industry
Senior Post-Harvest Engineer, IGP Institute
Founding Director, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the
Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss (www.reducePHL.org)

2. Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the
Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss
Funded by:
USAID: Global Hunger and Food Security Research Strategy:
Climate Resilience, Nutrition, and Policy
(RFA-OAA-12-000036)
Program Area 5:
Reduced Post-Harvest Losses and Food Waste
University Partners:
Kansas State University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Oklahoma State University
Fort Valley State University
South Carolina State University
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
University of Kentucky
USDA-ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research
Focus Countries
Bangladesh
Ethiopia
Ghana
Guatemala

3. • U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative
aimed at transforming lives toward a world where people no
longer face the agony and injustice of extreme poverty,
undernutrition and hunger.
– Underlying belief: Global hunger is solvable.
• Feed the Future agencies work with partner countries to
develop their agriculture sectors and break vicious cycle of
poverty and hunger.
• Feed the Future works from farms to markets to tables to
improve incomes & nutrition.
Feed the Future Initiative

4. Guatemala
Honduras
Haiti
Ethiopia
Kenya
Malawi
Mozambique
Rwanda
Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia
Bangladesh
Cambodia
Nepal
Tajikistan
Ghana
Liberia
Mali
Senegal
Feed the Future Initiative

5. Definition of Food Security
Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical
and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to
meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and
healthy life. (FAO)

6. Food Availability and Postharvest loss
“Another priority in the poorest countries must be to reduce the tragic waste of
losses after harvest from inadequate storage, transportation and pest control.”
“.. we urge …a goal of cutting in half these post harvest losses by 1985”
Henry Kissinger. 7th special session of the U.N. General Assembly. September 1, 1975
Adopted as a resolution of the U.N. General Assembly. September 19, 1975
“There should be a target in developing countries to halve postharvest losses by
2023 and make it a primary goal of the Feed the Future initiative. Without
adequate infrastructure to store and transport crops, enormous amounts of food
are lost on their way from farms to consumers’ tables.”
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Advancing global food security: The power of
science, trade, and business, p. 81. May, 2013.

7. Consumer Food System

8. Post-Harvest Loss and Food Waste

9. Post-Harvest Loss and Food Waste
• Approximately one-third of food produced for human
consumption worldwide is lost or wasted between
farm and table
• Developing countries lose more of their food earlier
in the value chain
• Approximately three-fourths of food losses (in terms of
kilocalories) experienced in Sub-Saharan Africa come from
the stages “closest to the farm”
• production, harvest, post-harvest handling, storage
• Approximately 56% of food wastage occurs in the
developed world
• Mostly food wasted at the consumption level

10. Post-Harvest Loss and Food Waste
Current estimate of food waste levels EU28
Source: Dr. Toine Timmermans, University of Wageningen
Households
50%
Production
27%
Processing
9%
Food service
11%
Whole sale
and retail
3%

11. A More Specific Perspective:
Rice in SE Asia (IRRI; 2011)
ConsumptionCrop
Physical losses range from 15-25%
(loss in quantity)
Quality losses range from 10-30%
(loss in value)

12. Mycotoxins of Greatest Concern in Grains and
the Molds that Produce them
Mycotoxins Molds
Aflatoxins Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus, A. nomius
Ochratoxin Aspergillus ochraceus, A. niger
Penicillium verrucosum
Fumonisins Fusarium verticillioides (moniliforme)
F. proliferatum, F. subglutinans
Moniliformin F. proliferatum, F. subglutinans
Deoxynivalenol Fusarium graminearum, F. culmorum
(DON, Vomitoxin) F. pseudograminearum
Zearalenone Fusarium graminearum, F. culmorum
F. crookwellense

13. Mycotoxin Global Occurrence in 2013
www.biomin.net
• On average, in
the >4,200 samples:
• AFLA: 30%
• ZEA: 37%
• DON: 59%
• FUM: 55%
• OTA: 23%

14. Geographic Pattern of Mycotoxin Occurrence
www.biomin.net

15. Post-Harvest Quality Loss and Food Safety
Guatemala: Mean total aflatoxin (B1+B2) concentration in μg/kg and mean total fumonisin (B1+B2+B3)
concentration in mg/kg shown as a ratio preceded by the department (province/state) abbreviation. Yellow
boxes are departments (provinces/states) that import maize from the departments (provinces/states) in green
boxes which are sufficient in maize production and also are exporters of maize.
Source: Torres et al. (2015)

16. PHL loss reduction matters because its absence…
1. reduces absolute availability of food at all levels
• For countries that are food insecure, food loss reduces available
nutrition for local populations, forcing already poor countries to
import food
2. reduces farmer incomes, increases consumer costs, and
unnecessarily burdens ecosystems
3. reduces food quality and condition
• affects access to market, saleable volumes,
effective prices, returns to farmers, and sometimes
safety or nutritional value
4. effectively raises the costs of production
handling, storage, transport, marketing and
distribution
5. lowers sectoral value-added opportunities
• Flour milling, feed manufacturing, food processing
6. slows economic growth

17. Highest Potential: Reducing PHL and Increasing Yields
(McKinsey & Company 2011)
& PHL

18. PHL Innovation Lab Goals
• Enhancing capacity to improve drying, conditioning, handling,
storage, pest management, transportation, grading,
standardization and marketing of their crops
• Expanding access to Post-Harvest Service Centers utilizing
"Warehouse Receipt Systems" (WRS) (value chain access)
• Pilot testing of promising “on the shelf” and “in the field
elsewhere” best practices and technologies
• Using local artisans, business people and workers to create
and develop locally-produced tools and technology to aid in
sustainability of resources and practices
• Employing advanced information technology-based systems
to more rapidly evaluate and disseminate promising PHL
reduction innovations

19. Improve On-farm Grain Drying

20. Improve On-Farm Grain Storage

21. USDA-ARS developed moisture
meter could sell for $50-$70
Affordable Moisture Meter

22. Solar Dryers (German & Indian Designs)
Solar Bubble Dryer by GrainPro
Solar Grain Dryer by S4S

23. Examples of stored-product insects
Rice weevil Indianmeal mothLesser grain borer
Red flour beetle
Immature stages of weevil
Live at 17-45oC and at 10-65% humidity
Optimum, 28-32oC
Egg-to-adult development, 30-40 days at optimum
Eggs Larva
Pupa
Adult

24. Lesser grain borer (Rhyzopertha dominica) damage
0 days 28 days 56 days 76 days 106 days 128 days
100 adults left in grain for 7 days and then removed 30oC

25. Hermetic Storage Bags (Israeli & U.S. Designs)
Hermetic storage bags by GrainPro
Extrusion of oxygen barrier plastic film
Triple layer hermetic storage
bags by Purdue University

26. Small-scale Metal Silos (CIMMYT/SDC Design)

27. Post-Harvest Loss in Ghana
• Much of the Ghanaian agricultural system struggles
with post-harvest loss
• Up to 35% of maize and 34% of cassava produced is
lost along their respective value chains

28. Activity % Loss
Field (Over-Maturity,
Harvesting, Heaping*)
5.0
Shelling or Threshing 1.5
Drying 0.5
Storage (Mold) 15.0
Storage (Insect Pests) 8.0
Total 30.0
Major (Wet) Season Maize Post-Harvest
Losses in the Middle Belt of Ghana
*Heaping refers to piling of ears of corn into heaps in the field pending
threshing (shelling)

29. Activity % Loss
Field (Over-Maturity,
Harvesting, Heaping)
6.0
Shelling or Threshing 1.0
Drying 0.2
Storage (Mold) 2.0
Storage (Insect Pests) 10.0
Total 19.2
Minor (Dry) Season Maize Post-Harvest
Losses in the Middle Belt of Ghana
*Heaping refers to piling of ears of corn into heaps in the field pending
threshing (shelling)

30. • Maize is the main food
source (115 kg /
person / year).
• More than half of
Guatemalan corn is
consumed as tortillas.
The rate of chronic malnutrition in the
highlands of northwestern Guatemala
(Huehuetenango) is 69.5%
Guatemala,
Centro América
PHL Innovation Lab Initial FtF Focus Countries

31. Training for assessments
Assessment Methodology
Daily preparation in the community

32. Assessment Main Results
93.5% of corn producers practice drying:
• 3.5% in the corn field before cutting the cob
• 10% after cobs are shelled
• 86.5% of cobs are mostly dried by sun
38.21%
61.79%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
Mazorca Grano
Maize Stored as Cobs (Ear Corn) or
Kernels (Shelled Corn)
Cobs Kernels
2% 1%
74%
23%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Troja Tradicional Troja Mejorada Tapanco Mancuerna
Type of Storage for Maize Produced by Farmers
Traditional Box Improved Box Attic Hanging on Beam
81%
14%
2%
7%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Costal Silo Tonel Cajón
Type of Storage for Maize Purchased by
Farmers
Bag Silo Container Box
Common Practices for drying and storage of
maize among farmers
NOTE: Farmers only produce about 25-33%
of their anual consumption and buy the
balance until the next harvest.

33. Current drying practices / Guatemala
Sun/solar exposure
of unhusked ears of
maize outside or in
bags
Attic (accumulated heat &
smoke) or on top of the
roof
Hanging ears of
seed maize
Field drying

34. Current storage practices / Guatemala
Shelled maize in
metal silo
Ear maize in outdoor pile
Ear maize pile with husks
Ear maize in attic above
kitchen or sleeping room
Shelled maize in bags

35. Assessment Main Results
Quantification of losses:
Reported by farmers as a loss at this stage last season varied, depending on the volume of production of each
farmer.
Township
Corn
Produced
Loss Reported
in harvest
% of loss
Todos
Santos
1,197* 82.6* 6.9%
Chiantla 1,040* 64.2* 6.2%
70%
20%
10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Se lo dan a los
animales
Lo consumen Lo tiran / lo desechan
Damaged corn destination:
*Quintales
(= 100 lbs)
Animal Feeding Food Discard

36. Lack of awareness of PHL issues and
effective mitigation measures
Identify, educate, and train drivers of change,
e.g., nucleus farmer aggregators, value chain
service providers, farmer-based organizations,
women groups etc.
Engagement, Education and Training

37. Summary – Challenges and Solutions
• Addressing food security through reduction of post-
harvest loss is a very important and complex field
• merits more serious thought and considerably more action and
attention than it has been getting in past 20 years
• Most technical and best practices solutions already exist
but…
• substantial “application/adaptation/adoption” research,
demonstration, scale up, value chain analysis, consensus-
building still needed
• Although technological advances are critical, there are
impediments related to…
• behavioral, organizational, marketing, social, cultural, gender,
environmental and political nature that must be addressed to
make progress

38. “I will always be a pessimistic
optimist, but the effort to lift
people out of the
dehumanizing and painful
state of food insecurity will
always be worth it. And
sometimes it will even work.”
– Howard G. Buffett (40 Chances)