Dear Sir/Madame,
Many thanks for the chance to provide ideas regarding reduction of food losses and waste in order to bring about a sustainable food system.
My first suggestion is to take stock of what went well and not so well in the past efforts to reduce food loss in developing countries. Lessons learnt globally from former initiatives should give direction for our future strategies.
I would also like to make other suggestions based on an assessment we did in some parts of Ethiopia.
Access to credit is very crucial for technology adoption. Adoption of a technology can be economically rewarding but that is not a sufficient condition for a resource poor farmer to decide to take up the technology as s/he might be constrained by lack of cash.
Low cost and freely available chemicals that are not supposed to be used on food grains may discourage adoption of other appropriate options. Biosafety regulations and enforcements are areas that need to be closely looked at in connection with reducing food losses.
Another crucial aspect is ensuring political commitment to take on post harvest losses as a core issue in the national food security/agriculture agenda coupled with capacity building in Rural Advisory Services in general.
Best Regards
Senait Regassa