Avocado post-harvest losses and their economic implications in southern highlands; a case of Njombe region, Tanzania.

There has been a drastic increase in avocado production in Southern Highlands of Tanzania and Farmers orientation in supplying to the external market for fetching lucrative price has been obvious. Nevertheless, many finds themselves unable penetrate and supply large volumes of sales as they would prefer due to failure of meeting some set standards. This study aimed at assessing the post harvest losses and their economic implications in southern highlands of Tanzania. Specially the study intended to: examine the trend ofavocado harvest and sales in the study area; investigate the post-harvest losses as a function of avocado rejection and analyze economic implication of losses in the study area. A total of 385 household sampled randomly from avocado farmers were involved in this study. Data collection methods involved household Survey (HS), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interview (KII). Results indicated that the amount sold to the market were progressively lower than the amount harvested leading into a gap betweenharvest and sales. It was also found that farmers experienced rejection of their harvest for failing to meet the required standards leading to the loss of harvest. A total of 43,895.3 kg amounting to TZS.87,790,000/= have been lost by all household for the period of four years from 2019-2022 while each household had lost a total of 172.8kg which is equivalent to TZS.345,600/= during the same period. Moreover, it was found that avocado post-harvest losses threaten immediate earning as well as posing long-term socio-economic implications for the avocado farming households, the avocado sector and economy at large. Basing on the findings, the study recommended that; farmers should be capacitated to convert rejected avocado into other locally made products; be educated on better agronomic practices, the market demand and timing.