EVALUATION OF STORED MAIZE LOSSES IN CAMEROON

Farmer surveys have consistently shown maize storage losses to be of p rimary concern to farmers in the western highlands of Cameroon. Past a ttempts at evaluating these losses, however, have proved to be unsatis factory, mainly because of failure to consider qualitative, as well as quantitative, losses or to take account of consumption patterns (that is, timing and end use). A simulation model is presented that overcom es these deficiencies while providing a reliable estimate of the econo mic value of storage losses to the farmer, albeit at the cost of requi ring fairly exacting data. The model is used to estimate the value of storage losses to farmers in the North West Province of Cameroon.