Pre-harvest Losses of Musa spp. and Food Security Situation of Households in Sub-Sahara Africa

Abstract

Musa spp. generally known as bananas and plantains are staples to many in Africa. However, pre-harvest losses of these crops for the past two decades are alarming. The paper reveals that pre-harvest losses of bananas and plantains since 2002 ranges from 20.7-100% in Sub-Sahara Africa with most countries recording 50% losses and above. The paper further categorised the causes of pre-harvest losses of Musa spp. into natural, agronomic, biotic and human-induced constraints. Among these categories, human-induced constraints are seen to cause the highest pre-harvest losses as they influence the occurrence of other constraints. Some of the primary natural and agronomic constraints are storm, drought, and irregular/mixed cropping and over dependent on sward suckers and rainfall respectively. Fusarium wilt, Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW), banana bunchy top disease, black sigatoka and cigar-end rot are some of the biotic constraints reported in most producing countries in the region. Pests such as banana weevils, nematodes, mealy-bugs and white grubs are equally identified as potential causes of Musa pre-harvest losses while some human-induced constraints are farmer-grazier conflicts, weak extension system and poor inputs. The paper revealed that in Rwanda, pre-harvest losses of bananas led to an increase (14-64%) of the number of households who were unable to eat their preferred meal in all the months of the year while in Tanzania, the food situation of 53.8% of the households were reported to be very bad. Meanwhile in Cameroon, insufficient food was reported in 81% of the producing households in Boyo Division. It is therefore, concluded that in order to minimise pre-harvest losses and enhance the food security status of the producers and consumers in the region, proper propping, pruning, crop rotation and above all integrated pest and disease management techniques should be practiced while Musa research centres should be decentralising, extension delivery systems revisited and disease-free planting materials provided to the farmers.