Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 October 2008
Farmer surveys have consistently shown maize storage losses to be of primary concern to farmers in the western highlands of Cameroon. Past attempts at evaluating these losses, however, have proved to be unsatisfactory, 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 overcomes these deficiencies while providing a reliable estimate of the economic value of storage losses to the farmer, albeit at the cost of requiring fairly exacting data. The model is used to estimate the value of storage losses to farmers in the North West Province of Cameroon.