Food waste organisation Feedback has produced a report that shows how farmers in Kenya are seeing almost half (44.5%) of their produce wasted, often unnecessarily.

Looking predominantly at bean growers in Kenya, the report revealed that 26 percent of produce is rejected at farm level (often in the process of on-farm grading to meet cosmetic specifications), with a further 25 percent being rejected by pack houses and those further up the supply chain.

The report suggests that overly strict cosmetic specifications from retailers and export pack houses, and a power imbalance in the supply chain that allows buyers to manipulate demand and price conditions, mean farmers are often lumped with huge amounts of unsellable produce, with produce grown for export often only attracting a fraction of the price on domestic markets, making it unviable to market or transport.

In the report, which is the result of a short fact-finding trip to Kenya, Feedback points out that, unlike commodity crops such as grain that can be stored, most horticultural produce must be sold within a relatively short time. Feedback pointed to the findings of a 2012 report by Consumers International which highlights that a “[horticulture] supplier has only a short period of time before the product becomes unsellable. Purchasers know this and can exploit it.”

Horticultural exports make up 23 per cent of Kenya’s GDP; the sector is the country’s main area of foreign trade and the horticulture industry directly employs 4.5 million people. Flowers are the most widely grown horticulture crops, though large amounts of fruit and vegetables are also grown for export (mostly french beans).

Farmers interviewed for the report particularly resented produce being rejected on cosmetic grounds (not based on food safety or quality criteria). Feedback visited one exporting company that factored wastage of fully half of all baby carrots passing through the company due to cosmetic standards.

Every farmer interviewed for the report had frequently had their produce rejected. They claimed that European standards are by far the strictest and both farmers and exporters claimed that order rejections, made on the grounds of quality or cosmetic specifications, were used to cover up order cancellations.

Order amendments and cancellations are often given with little warning, making incomes unpredictable and forcing some farm owners into debt.

Feedback highlights the fact that, not only does food waste mean nutritious produce is going uneaten, but waste extends to the labour and resources used to grow food in the first place. Feedback notes in its report that “Not only do these issues result in high levels of wasted resources such as land… energy, agri-chemicals and fuel; they also cause severe financial loss to exporters, farmers and farm workers.”

In the report, one farmer states, “Every week I harvest between 300 and 500kg depending on how much I’ve planted. Out of this harvest I end up losing about 200kg. I feel very bad because I’m losing...I have people working in the farm. I pay each of them 300 shillings per day. This is wasted, that is money that is lost and I feel so bad because I am losing money.”

The report can be read in full here