**6.2 A comparison of DFA between the least developed and the G20 countries**

The least developed countries do not have adequate funding for sufficient capital investment in the agricultural sector. Agricultural capital investment in the least developed countries relies on development support from funding bodies as one of the most realistic means. **Table 5** presents the DFA (in millions of US dollars) from the international organisations to the least developed countries.<sup>15</sup>


<sup>15</sup> As this chapter does not afford enough space, detailed information on recipient countries is omitted in **Table 5**. The DFA variable can be identified in FAOSTAT with Domain code EA, Element code 6110, Item code 22041 and Purpose code 310. DFA value is rounded to the first decimal place. The Donor code, Recipient code and Year code of the variables are not presented because these depend on the donors, recipients and years selected. For the information on these codes, please refer to the data source.


#### **Table 5.**

*DFA to the least developed countries from international organisations.*

There are many international organisations in the world that support economic progress in developing countries. **Table 5** reveals that DFA is allocated by international organisations to the least developed countries; however, there are differences in the number of recipient countries, the size of DFA varies among international organisations and the number of recipient countries and DFA size fluctuates from year to year. Considering the lack of capital of postharvest management, DFA in **Table 5** is unlikely to be sufficient to improve the circumstances. Funding from international organisations is also limited; hence, the provision of substantial DFA to many developing countries is difficult. To improve this support limitation, developing countries should apply strategies for the effective use of capital provided by agricultural development support.

### **7. Conclusions**

Global population growth and environmental burdens have caused rising concerns regarding future food security worldwide. Despite these growing concerns, many crops are discarded without being consumed at postharvest stages. In particular, the postharvest loss is experienced in many developing countries mainly due to a lack of capital and technology for food storage, processing (i.e. threshing, drying and packaging) and distribution. Investigating the existing literature and FAOSTAT data, this study demonstrated that a significant amount of postharvest loss is realised in the least developed countries. Moreover, a theoretical analysis demonstrated that a lack of knowledge and skills among local labourers can result in the lack of full utilisation of improved capabilities for handling postharvest crops, and the postharvest loss is not reduced as expected. Theoretical analyses demonstrated that funding bodies are discouraged from providing support to developing countries in circumstances wherein the outcome of the support due to failing use of capital is uncertain. The proportion of AIR in the least developed countries is significantly lower than that in the G20 countries, which is consistent with the theory of this study indicating the lack of capital for postharvest management in developing countries. DFA to the least developed countries from the international

*Challenges and Measures to Recapitalise Handling of Postharvest Crops in Developing… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101222*

organisations also appeared to be insufficient for improving the current circumstances. Funding bodies also have limited funds, and it can be extremely difficult to provide adequate support. Efforts to maximise the limited capital in developing countries are critical to meaningful improvement.
