ABSTRACT
CSAM is geared toward stakeholders who are interested in reducing food losses. It is particularly useful to technical specialists and decision-makers from ministries of agriculture, corporations, research institutes and other institutions involved in making systematic improvements within agricultural value chains.
The methodology seeks to identify weaknesses throughout agricultural value chains that lead to food losses, and, at the same time, identify solutions for improving their efficiency. A product of many years of research and field trials, the methodology includes valuable inputs from professionals from different organizations around the world.
CSAM divides the agricultural value chain into 26 components that are potentially important because the decisions or actions occurring at any point may affect the production, productivity, quality or cost of the product at that point, or at some later point in the food system. It also presents tools for identifying and analyzing problems, proposing solutions and establishing priorities, with the aim of preparing project proposals and practical extension interventions.
Since 2015, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture has led a process geared toward building the capacities of Latin American countries in relation to the CSAM methodology.
