Frequently Asked Questions

Postharvest loss includes the food loss across the food supply chain from harvesting of crop until its consumption.

Each year, about 1.3 billion tons of food produced for human consumption is lost after harvest and before reaching consumers around the world, according to the FAO.

Losses occur all along the supply chain and include losses from practices applied at harvest and handling (such as proper drying, moisture management and storage), inability to access markets at the right time, transportation challenges, and other food system inefficiencies.

ADMI is committed to a food systems approach that considers dynamic and evolving relationships across the stages of the food value chain to identify postharvest interventions that can positively affect producers, consumers and intermediaries.

We recognize that no specific intervention can solve postharvest losses globally and seek to identify, adapt, and promote tools, techniques, institutions, and policies that contribute to the ADMI mission in specific contexts.

ADMI serves as an information hub for evidence-based knowledge on postharvest loss issues. As a leader in the postharvest space, ADMI brings together, engages, and advocates with diverse actors and stakeholders across all sectors to drive dialogue and decision-making on priorities and action steps for loss prevention. 

The institute’s free online Coursera course “Global Postharvest Loss Prevention: Fundamentals, Technologies, and Actors” has enabled more than 2,500 learners from all over the world to educate themselves about the issue and challenges of postharvest loss. Our Resources page includes peer-reviewed research from all stages of the postharvest value chain, as well as links to postharvest tools to help calculates losses and how to reduce them.