Across the African continent, food systems are marked by a striking paradox: high levels of post-harvest food loss coexist with uneven access to food across interconnected rural and market networks. While global discourse often frames “food waste” as a household or retail problem, many African contexts are shaped by loss that occurs earlier i.e. during harvesting, transport, storage, processing and informal market circulation. These losses are not simply the result of excess supply. They are produced through infrastructural gaps, uneven infrastructural distribution, governance arrangements, climatic pressures and everyday handling practices.
This panel centres post-harvest loss and explores how redistribution opportunities emerge within constrained systems. Rather than collapsing loss into generalized “waste”, the session foregrounds the socio-spatial and infrastructural conditions under which edible produce becomes vulnerable and the mechanisms through which its usability may be extended. Attention is given not only to market practices and infrastructural arrangements, but also to spatial understanding and digital coordination systems that support communication, mapping and redistribution.
We invite contributions that examine how actors reorganize food systems through community-based coordination, market governance structures, preservation technologies, digital platforms such as messaging networks and reporting tools, participatory mapping practices, geospatial analysis, and application design inspired by user-centred design of redistribution platforms.
In the spirit of “Rupture and Remake”, we ask: How can food loss be reinterpreted as an opportunity for system redesign? How do spatial knowledge and mapping practices reveal redistribution possibilities within existing infrastructures? What roles do communication platforms, mobile reporting systems, dashboards, and coordination applications play in extending produce usability? And how might design-oriented approaches reshape African food systems without defaulting to household-level waste framings?
While broadly concerned with African food systems, this panel prioritizes contributions that examine post-harvest processes, redistribution dynamics, spatial infrastructures and digital coordination practices prior to household consumption.
Sub-themes include, but are not limited to:
• Post-harvest loss in production areas and wholesale markets
• Transport systems, storage facilities, and the management of perishable goods
• Redistribution of time-sensitive produce through community and market networks
• Digital communication tools and coordination platforms for food distribution
• Spatial analysis and mapping of food distribution networks
• Governance structures and local preservation practices that shape food systems
If you would like to join this panel, please send a 250-word abstract and a short bio to Ugonna Ahumibe: uahumibe@iu.edu by March 12, 2026.
Post-Harvest Loss and the Spatial-Digital Remaking of African Food Networks
