South Africa produces enough food, yet millions face hunger. Better cold storage could help change that

South Africa can produce enough food for its population, according to official statistics .

But millions face hunger, partly because food is lost and wasted in the value chain.

An estimated 10.3 million tonnes of food are wasted annually in the country, 19% of it fresh produce.

A substantial portion of this loss and waste occurs during harvesting , transportation and marketing in the form of handling problems and inadequate infrastructure.

Read more: Food waste in South Africa is dumped in landfills - study weighs up healthier and more sustainable options We are agri-food systems specialists who have studied food waste both at the farm level and further along the chain towards consumers.

For example, I (Opara) have found that for pomegranates, 15.3% to 20.1% of the harvest is lost at the farm (for several reasons, but mainly sunburn and cracks) and 6.74% to 7.69% at the packhouse (as a result of superficial injuries and missorted fruits from the farm).

Another study (Opara) measured post-harvest waste at a produce market.

This ranged from 0.68% to 1.26%.

The research confirms that food waste is partly due to inadequacies or failures in the cold chain, especially during summer when temperatures are high, affecting the physical quality of fresh produce.

A cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain that keeps perishable products safe and fresh.

Better cold storage would reduce waste.

Impact of seasons on fresh produce waste My (Opara) recent study set out to assess the magnitude and seasonal variations of postharvest waste at the wholesale level using a case study of a fresh produce market in Gauteng province, South Africa.

The study used the historical fresh produce waste data of the market over three years (2021 to 2023).

The results show that fresh produce is affected by seasonal heat and humidity, which affect the physical quality and consumer acceptability of fresh produce.