About this Research Topic

Background

It is estimated that postharvest losses in horticultural commodities (mainly fruits and vegetables) range between 40 – 50%. Over the years, various interventions (technologies, capacity building and other approaches) have been fronted as solutions for reducing food loss and waste (FLW) in horticultural value chains. Some of the interventions are especially targeted at smallholder practitioners who are the majority in resource-limited economies in Africa, Asia and South America. Although some of the interventions have been adopted and contributed to FLW reduction, many have not moved beyond the proof-of-concept stage despite their great potential. This collection of original research, reviews, mini-reviews, case studies, opinions and other publication types will document sustainable approaches (technologies, capacity building, enabling policies and others) towards FLW reduction in smallholder horticulture. Interventions that have moved from proof-of-concept to practical application to address the problem of FLW and the success factors thereof will be showcased. In the case of interventions that have not moved beyond the proof-of-concept stage, this publication will endeavour to explore factors that have hindered scaling up efforts and propose strategies to address them.

Food loss and waste (FLW) is one of the major contributing factors to unsustainability of our food systems. The losses in horticultural value chains constitute much more than just the food lost or wasted. They represent unsustainable use of limited production resources (land, water, energy, agro-inputs, labor) to produce food that ultimately goes to waste. In addition, FLW represents lost income for the smallholder practitioners, especially the farmers who bear the highest cost of the problem. Wasted food that ends up in landfills further aggravates the negative footprint through the emission of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. There are many innovative solutions and approaches to reduce FLW, especially in resource-limited economies in Africa, Asia and South America. Examples of these interventions include good preharvest practices that result in high-quality produce; innovative on-farm harvesting and handling practices that preserve quality at harvest; innovations and practices that maintain a cold-chain and extend the produce shelf-life; innovative value addition options among others. In addition, there are innovative approaches to strengthen capacity of the value chain actors on proper postharvest management. All these interventions require an enabling policy environment to promote and incentivise widescale adoption while encouraging inclusive growth of the horticulture sector in resource-limited economies. There is need for a comprehensive documentation and analysis of these interventions to guide the horticulture sector stakeholders and policy makers in their efforts towards effective and sustainable FLW reduction.

We welcome opinion pieces on topics such as (but not limited to):
1. Landscape of food loss and waste (FLW) in Horticulture - extent, causes/drivers, and impact on smallholder farmers and other practitioners in resource-limited economies

We also welcome manuscripts of all types of manuscripts (A, B or C) on topics such as (but not limited to):
2. Food loss and waste metrics/data in horticultural value chains
3. Preharvest and harvest factors and practices affecting quality.
4. Innovations for postharvest quality preservation, food safety, value addition – enhancing market access and profitability for smallholder practitioners in horticultural value chains
5. Capacity strengthening for better postharvest management in horticultural value chains
6. Enabling environment (policies, standards, extension services etc) required for FLW reduction technologies and practices scale up and adoption.
7. Challenges in moving from proof of concept to wide-spread adoption of postharvest innovations in resource-limited economies; cost benefit analysis and willingness to pay for existing interventions
8. Cross-cutting topics – including gender-sensitive and youth inclusive approaches in FLW reduction efforts.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Postharvest, Food Loss, Food Waste, Sustainable, Smallholder

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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