FOOD LOSS AND WASTE QUANTIFICATION IN COLOMBIA

Nadia Puerta CavanzoDepartamento Nacional de Planeación – DNP-

Colombia

BACKGROUND

By 2030, halve per capita global food

waste at the retail and consumer levels

and reduce food losses along production

and supply chains, including post-

harvest losses

Target 12,3:

BACKGROUND

Source: Encuesta Nacional de Situación Nutricional -ENSIN- (2010)

Prevalence of food insecurity: 43% of households1

2

3

13,3% of population under 5 years of age and 10%

between 5 and 17 years of age are malnourished.

In 2014 a total of 2.147 Colombian children aged

between 0 - 4 years died because of

undernourishment related causes.

Source: ICBF (2011)

Source: DANE (2014)

BACKGROUND

Source: FAO y MinSalud (2012) Citado por Ábaco (2016)

Retail waste in supermarkets due to damages and

expiration is 90.000 tons of products.

Source: Fenalco (2015)

1

2

3

Post harvest loss of fruits and vegetables is 39% or

1,4 million tons.

Food waste in Bogotá’s marketplaces is around

30%

Source: SAC (2014)

METHODOLOGY AND DATA SOURCES

Food Loss Food Waste

AgriculturalProduction

Postharvest handlingand storage

Processing and packaging

DistributionHousehold

consumption

METHODOLOGY AND DATA SOURCES

Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology(SIK) and FAO. “Global Food Losses and

Food Waste” (2011).

Grupo Técnico de Pérdidas y Mermas de Alimentos de la Cruzada Nacional contra el

hambre. “Índice de Desperdicio de Alimentos en México” (2013).

Food Balance Sheets, FAO

Field work: Guild interviews

Food Balance Sheets FAO

Household Income and

Expenditure Survey, DANE

National Accounts, DIAN

National Census of Waste in

Retail

Field work: Guild interviews

METHODOLOGY OF FOOD LOSSES

CALCULATION

Total food loss

Domestic supply quantity

% national food loss

Food loss in post-harvest

handling and storage

Food loss in

processing

Food loss in agricultural production

METHODOLOGY OF FOOD LOSSES

CALCULATION

Food produced for human consumption

Agricultural Production

% loss (proportion of food lost in agricultural

production)

Food Loss of total

production

FIELD WORK: GUILDS INTERVIEWS

Topics covered:

- National production.

- National food processing.

- National human consumption.

- Loss percentages in agricultural production,

post harvesting and processing.

- Causes of food loss in each sector

- Actions in order to prevent food loss and

waste.

- Additional recommendations in order to

reduce food loss.

- International experiences.

DATA SOURCES: FOOD LOSS

PERCENTAGES Loss percentages FAO (2011) for Latin America:

Agricultural Production

Postharvest handling and

storage

Processing andpackaging

MILK 4% 6% 2%

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

20% 10% 20%

MEAT 5% 1% 5%

ROOTS AND TUBERS

14% 14% 12%

OILSEEDS AND PULSES

6% 3% 8%

FISH AND SEAFOOD

6% 5% 9%

CEREALS 6% 4% 5%

Agricultural Production

Postharvest handling and

storage

Processing andpackaging

MILK 4% 4% 2%

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

20% 10% 13%

MEAT 5% 1% 3%

ROOTS AND TUBERS

14% 14% 12%

OILSEEDS AND PULSES

6% 3% 8%

FISH AND SEAFOOD

6% 5% 9%

CEREALS 8% 4% 5%

Loss percentages for Colombia (DNP):

METHODOLOGY OF FOOD WASTE

CALCULATION

Retail Food

Retail and Distribution

% waste=known operative decrease of food stock

Food waste in

supermarkets and stalls

METHODOLOGY OF FOOD WASTE

CALCULATION

Food waste= weighted

sum of waste of each food based on their share in the

Colombian diet.

Consumption quantity of each product

• The Domestic Supply Quantity was calculated based on National Accounts and secondary

sources of information of 2007.

• Information of national imports and exports was complemented using the Statistical System of

International Trade of DIAN.

• Information about the food quantity consumed by Colombian households was taken from the

Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2007.

• Food waste in households was calculated based only on items from the basic food basket,

which consists of 41 items in urban areas, and 39 in rural areas.

Domestic Supply Quantity= National

production – national exports + national

imports

DATA SOURCES: FOOD LOSS

PERCENTAGES

Waste percentages FAO (2011):

Distribution Household

consumption

MILK 8% 4%

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

12% 10%

MEAT 5% 6%

ROOTS AND TUBERS 3% 4%

OILSEEDS AND PULSES 2% 2%

FISH AND SEAFOOD 10% 4%

CEREALS 4% 10%

Distribution Household

consumption

MILK 8% 22%

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

15% 23%

MEAT 2% 10%

ROOTS AND TUBERS 3% 18%

OILSEEDS AND PULSES 2% 20%

FISH AND SEAFOOD 10% 17%

CEREALS 4% 14%

Waste percentages Colombia:

CALCULATION TOTAL FOOD LOSS AND

WASTE

Food Losses

Food waste

Total food loss and

waste

Domestic Supply

Quantity

National

percentage

of food

loss and

waste

MAIN RESULTS

Food loss and waste in

Colombia is 34%.

8% of cereals58% of fruits

and vegetables49% of roots and

tubers

15% of fish and

seafood

23% of milk and

dairy products12% of meat 13% of oilseeds and

pulses

22% Loss 12% waste

MAIN RESULTS

Food loss and waste in

Colombia is around 9.76

millions of tons per year.

772 thousand

tons of

cereals

6,1 millions of

tons of fruits and

vegetables

2,4 millions of

tons of roots and

tubers

50 thousand tons of

fish and seafood

29 thousand tons

of milk and dairy

products

269 thousand

tons of meat

148 thousand tons of

oilseeds and pulses

6,22 million loss 3,54 million waste

40.5%

19.8%3.5%

20.6%

15.6%

DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD LOSS AND

WASTE

Fuente: Cálculos DNP

Agricultural

production

Postharvest handling and

storage

Distribution

Processing and packaging

Household consumption

3,95M (ton)

1,93M (ton)

342 thousand (ton)

2,01M (ton)

1,53M (ton)

73% OF COLOMBIAN HOUSEHOLDS STATE

THAT THEY DO NOT WASTE ANY FOOD

16.96%

34.2%

28.75%

12.74%

7.36%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Estrato 1 Estrato 2 Estrato 3 Estrato 4 Estrato 5 y 6

Distribution of households by social stratum

77% 73%66% 63%

23% 27%34% 37%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Barranquilla Cali Medellín Bogotá

Waste distribution by main cities

No desperdicia Si desperdiciaNo Yes

FOOD WASTE IS MOSTLY AN URBAN

PHENOMENA (97,4%)

IMPACTS OF THE STUDY

Three bill drafts are waiting for approval in the congress, they include:

• Incentives to stop food waste (donation)

• Punishments for food waste

• Mandatory reporting of food losses and waste by producers, industrialists, dealers, etc.

• Projects aimed to reduce food losses:

• Credit lines focused on best practices (land suitability, infrastructure, equipment, etc.)

• The Colombian government is actually working on an model of technical assistance

• Projects which impact can reduce food losses and waste: bridges, roads, milk collection center, marketplace, etc.

THANK YOU

https://colaboracion.dnp.gov.co/CDT/Prensa/Publicaciones/P%C3%A9rdida%20y%20desperdicio%20de%20alimentos%20en%20colombia.pdf