The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) reported that approximately one-third of all produced foods (1.3 billion tons of edible food) for human consumption is lost and wasted every year across the entire supply chain. Significant impacts of food loss and waste (FLW) have increased interest in establishing prevention programs around the world. This paper aims to provide an overview of FLW occurrence and prevention. Economic, political, cultural, and socio-demographic drivers of FLW are described, highlighting the global variation. This approach might be particularly helpful for scientists, governors, and policy makers to identify the global variation and to focus on future implications. The main focus here was to identify the cause of the FLW occurrence throughout the food supply chain. We have created a framework for FLW occurrence at each stage of the food supply chain. Several feasible solutions are provided based on the framework.

Smallholder farmers face numerous constraints that restrict their access to markets and prevent them from taking advantage of market opportunities. This research aimed to examine the factors affecting the market participation of smallholder farmers and find ways to improve the income and livelihood of smallholder farmers, focusing on Myothit Township in Magway Region, Central Dry Zone of Myanmar. For the primary data, we surveyed 150 smallholder rice farmers which were selected using a random sampling technique. Using the Heckman two-stage selection model, we analyzed the factors influencing smallholder rice farmers’ decisions regarding participation in the agricultural market. This study revealed that the decision to participate in the rice market was dependent on different factors such as the household head age, education status, household size, total produce of rice, price of rice, household income, ownership of livestock, membership of farmer organization, access to roads, distance to market, access to extension services, and market information. The results of this study have implications as to what factors need to be addressed to encourage smallholder rice farmers to participate in the market. We suggest that Myanmar government and policymakers need to establish balanced policies for small-scale farmers and manage them in an appropriate way so that agricultural development can be induced, contributing to poverty reduction, food security, and economic development.

Irish potato is one of the major staple food and cash crops in Cameroon. Several studies have been conducted on the agronomic aspect of the crop, but very little is known on the technical efficiency of potato producers in the country. This study examines the technical efficiency of smallholder Irish potato producers in the Santa subdivision and the determinants of technical efficiency. Data were collected through surveys of Irish potato producers, and analyses were conducted using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Tobit model. The research findings imply that, in order to reduce the level of technical inefficiencies among smallholder Irish potato producers, appropriate training should be provided to farmers in order to improve their agronomic knowledge with respect to potato production. In addition, emphasis should be placed on policies and programs that promote extension services in order to improve the performance of Irish potato producers in the Santa subdivision. Again, more credit institutions, such as microfinance institutions, should be established by the government in order to help farmers access enough credit for potato production.

As a staple food, rice has an enormous market in Bangladesh in terms of market participants and the volume of the product. As the price of rice is always a sensitive factor for producers, poor consumers and policy makers, this paper investigates market integration and price transmission along the vertical supply chain of rice. Johansen’s test of co-integration confirmed that farm, wholesale and retail prices are co-integrated in the long-run. A causality test revealed that prices were found to be at wholesale levels for both the upstream and downstream markets. The asymmetry error correction model (ECM) has discovered short-run and long-run asymmetry in price transmission in the vertical supply chain where both producers and consumers were being affected due to positive and negative asymmetry. Threshold autoregressive (TAR) and momentum threshold autoregressive (M-TAR) models have confirmed threshold co-integration as well as threshold effect on asymmetry in price transmission. The results highlight the inevitability of policy implementations and increased public interventions to reduce asymmetry for engendering greater pricing efficiency in Bangladesh rice markets.

Wheat and wheat products are an important part of the daily diet of Uzbek people, and thus, are under strategic consideration in terms of food security in Uzbekistan since the beginning of independence. In this study, wheat production during agricultural transition is reviewed and determinants of technical efficiency of wheat-cultivating farms in the Samarkand region are analyzed. Analyses are accomplished in two steps. In the initial step, technical efficiency of wheat farms is estimated using data envelopment analyses (DEA) and determenants of inefficiencies are analyzed by the Tobit model in the second step. Data for this study were collected from 124 randomly sampled private farms engaged in wheat production in the Samarkand region. The mean value of technical efficiency scores of wheat-growing farmers were found to be 0.79 and 0.82 under constant return to scale (CRS) and variable return to scale (VRS) assumptions. Empirical results suggest that there is a considerable scope for increasing production through reallocation of existing resources or that private farmers can reduce their input costs by 21 and 18 percent while holding the same production levels. The age of farmers, farmers’ education on agriculture, soil fertility, and the quality of seeds were found as the main determinants of technical efficiency in the study area.

Agriculture is a major contributor to economic development in most developing nations, with smallholder farmers playing a critical role, but their productivity and growth are impeded by a lack of access to agricultural loans. The affordability of loans is critical for sustainable agricultural development. Therefore, this paper investigates farmers’ loan acquisition and utilization, as well as their choice of loan sources using a two-part model and multinomial logit model. A total of 281 smallholder rice farmers were surveyed in Lagos State, Nigeria. The empirical findings show that marital status, farm size, and interest rate were all positive and significant influences on farmers’ loan sources of choice. In addition, annual farm revenue and the interest rate have a significant positive impact on loan access, whereas education, farming experience, farm size, off-farm income, and farm income have a major impact on loan use. The study also reveals that the preferred loan source differs according to the characteristics of farm households. The study concluded that access to loans increases farmers’ income in the region. It was recommended that the socio-economic characteristics of rice farmers should be considered when formulating and implementing policies to improve smallholder farmers’ access to agricultural loans.