Assessment on post-harvest losses of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentem Mill.) in selected districts of East Shewa Zone of Ethiopia using a commodity system analysis methodology

One of the main challenges facing Ethiopia today is to ensure food security for its rapidly growing population. Although Ethiopia's production is much lower than the national demand, there are high post-harvest food losses. In meeting a country's food demand, increasing production by itself is not enough unless what has been produced is properly managed. In line with this, extensive assessment of post-harvest losses of tomato along the supply chain and the associated factors were evaluated in four purposively selected districts of East Shewa Zone of Ethiopia. The assessment was made using Commodity System Assessment Methodology from “farm-to-fork” to investigate the status of post-harvest losses of tomato along the supply chain and the associated factors in the pursuit of recommending appropriate mitigation strategies. Information was gathered from a total of N = 408 sampled chain actors (producers to consumers) and related institutions. Results revealed that losses of tomato due to improper care and handling of the commodity regardless of its high production in the study area were common problems for all chain actors. A loss of 20.5%, 8.6%, 2.9%, and 7.3% at the producer, wholesalers, retailers, and hotel and café level was recorded respectively with a total loss of 39.3%. Total losses across districts ranged from 17.2-33.3. Field, transportation and market display were major critical loss points identified. Practices such as market fluctuation, lack of temperature management, no/poor sorting and mixed handling of the crop, carelessness on the loss prevention and its impact were identified among the common causes for observed losses. Therefore, creating awareness on the effect of all causes of food loss and minimizing economic loss is recommended. Moreover, affordable and appropriate technology adaptation is needed to reduce observed food losses across the districts.