Quantification of harvest and post-harvest losses along strands of rice value chain in Kilombero and Mbarali districts, Tanzania

This study quantified post-harvest losses (PHLs) along the rice supply chain in Kilombero and Mbarali districts, Tanzania, to generate evidence for loss reduction strategies. Assessments were conducted at harvesting, threshing, winnowing, storage and milling, identifying four technical strands at the farm level and twelve at the processing level. At the farm level, PHLs varied: sickle harvesting with heap beating, wind winnowing and home storage (20%); sickle harvesting with bambam threshing, wind winnowing and home storage (23%); sickle harvesting with machine threshing and home storage (13%) and combine harvesting with home storage (16%). At the processing level, losses ranged from 16% to 31%. The lowest occurred with sickle harvesting, machine threshing, storage and multi-stage milling (16%), while the highest involved sickle harvesting, bambam threshing, wind winnowing, storage and Engelberg milling (31%). These findings suggest that PHLs are largely technology-dependent, with improved machinery and multi-stage milling reducing losses and supporting food security.