Author

www.fao.org/ag/ags

SAVE FOOD – Global Initiative on food losses and waste reduction

Averting food losses and waste in the agri-food value chain

Ms. F. Tartanac Senior OfficerMarket Linkages and Value Chain Group, AGS-FAO

Food losses and food waste • Food loss is the reduction of food available for

human consumption in terms of quantity, quality, safety and nutritional value;

• Food waste occurs when decisions are made to discard food that still has value;

• Food losses and waste occur at all levels of the agri-food value chain.

Source: FAO. 2011. Global food losses and food waste

Global food losses and waste:estimated at 1.3 billion tonnes / year

Global food losses and waste in agri-food value chain

Europe North America, Oceania

Industrialized Asia Subsahara Africa North Africa, West & Central Asia

South & Southeast Asia

Latin America0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Per capita food losses and waste (kg/year)

consumer production to retailing

Source: FAO. 2011. Global food losses and food waste

Food losses and waste in the agri-food value chain

In developing countries:

the largest food losses and waste occur in the supply chain prior to consumption;

food losses and waste are a result of, among others:

Poor production planning Production problems Premature harvesting Poor storage facilities

Lack of processing facilities Inappropriate food contact materials

(packaging, processing machines) Inadequate marketing systems

Lack of infrastructure

Food losses and waste: the environmental impact in the value chain

• Larger food quantities need to be produced to make up for the food losses and waste.

• Food losses and waste impact on the environment: ▫ the energy, biodiversity, water, soil and other resources that are used

to produce, store, and distribute;▫ the generated green house gasses (in the value chain and after

disposal – e.g. landfills). • For example:

▫ Input level: more fertilizer and pesticides need to be produced which would other wise not have been needed;

▫ Farm level: More farm production causes further usage of natural resources;

▫ Marketing level: More marketing resources, such as transport, are needed and contributing thus to more emissions.

Food losses and waste: the environmental impact in the value

chain • Averting food losses and waste at the origin of

where they occur in the agri-food value chain → redesigning value chains;

• Greening value chains to avert food losses and waste → increased use of energy in reworking and recycling of food losses and waste;

• Clearly the environmental cost of such operations must not be higher than the environmental benefits;

• FAO study: the food waste footprint.

Food waste footprint study • Ultimate objective:

▫ to provide a consistent knowledge base which can be used to underpin future policy debate in environmental impacts of food losses and waste.

• Objective:▫ to provide a global account of the environmental footprint of

worldwide food waste along value chains; ▫ focus on the impacts on climate, water, land, and biodiversity.

• The study provides an economic assessment of food waste costs and an analysis of prospective scenarios

Food waste footprint study

SAVE FOOD - Global Initiative on food losses and waste reduction

SAVE FOOD - Global Initiative on food loss and waste reduction was launched together with Messe Düsseldorf GmbH – a German private sector organization and an international fairs organizer for the food packaging and processing industry;

U.N. organizations interested partners: World Food Programme (WFP); International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); UNEP;

African Development Bank (AfDB), African Postharvest Losses Information System - APHLIS (Natural Resources Institute, EU Joint Research Centre); International Trade Centre (ITC);

Donor countries: Norway; Research partners: Wageningen University (EU FP7 Project FUSIONS)

SAVE FOOD - Global Initiative on food losses and waste reduction

Four pillars: 1. Collaboration among key public and private partners -

mobilize resources; conceive and implement activities by applying global coordinated and coherent methodologies;

2. Evidence-based policy development and investment support - field case studies on food losses and waste on a regional basis with focus on core subsectors: cereals, roots & tubers, fruits & vegetables, oilseeds & pulses, meat, dairy, fish & seafood;

3. Awareness raising - worldwide media campaign;

4. Networking among stakeholders - farmers, agro-processors, packaging industry, retailers, policy makers and researchers; with a view towards developing feasible solutions.

FAO websites and contact

Link: http://www.fao.org/save-food/en/ and http://www.save-food.org/

Contact: robert.vanotterdijk@fao.org