March 30 is the International Day of Zero Waste, which aims to raise awareness about food waste and its consequences, and to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns towards a circular economy and advancement of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Food loss and waste remains a global problem and a pressing challenge in making agrifood systems efficient and sustainable, and in achieving food security and nutrition for all. Loss and waste affect everyone along the food value chain, from farmers to retailers to consumers. An estimated one third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted every year. This is especially egregious in a world where one in nine persons is food insecure. Food loss and waste also accounts for 8%-10% of total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Thus, tackling this issue presents a triple win opportunity—for climate, food security, and sustainability of global food systems.
A March 14 IFPRI policy seminar, co-organized with the Embassy of Denmark and the World Resources Institute (WRI), examined efforts around the world to combat the particularly high food loss and waste seen along fruit and vegetable supply chains. Among food groups, fruits and vegetables account for the greatest loss and waste, a total of 31.5% of production, while cereals and pulses account for the lowest, 7.23%, according to FAO 2021-2022 estimates.
Food loss refers to the decrease in quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions or actions by food suppliers (excluding retail providers and consumers). Food waste, on the other hand, is the decrease in quality and quantity of food due to decisions or actions by delivery services and other aggregators, food service providers, and consumers. Food loss usually occurs post-harvest and up to but not including retail level while food waste occurs usually at retail and forward stages. It is imperative to differentiate between the two since each has distinct policy implications.
The world faces various global crises including the Russia-Ukraine war and the resulting high global prices for energy, fertilizer, and food, and the aftershocks of COVID-19 on food security and health. Making progress on food loss and waste can make a difference. The impacts of such crises fall disproportionately on low-income countries. However, “there are no quick fixes,” for loss and waste, said Jacob Jensen, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark, underlining the importance of collaborations across nations and engaging all stakeholders from farm to fork to combat the challenge.
The vast amounts of lost and wasted fruits and vegetables have significant health and development impacts. Each year, 1.5 million deaths are attributed to low intake of fruits and 2 million deaths are attributed to low vegetable intake. “Ensuring global availability does not guarantee sufficient consumption,” said Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Chief Economist Maximo Torero. “We need a systems approach that ensures producer livelihoods, equips double distribution, a healthy food environment, and increased consumer dietary preferences … to increase uptake of fruits and vegetables.” Torero also pointed out that reduction of the food loss and waste by half at the same production level that we have today would ensure a “sufficient amount of fruits and vegetables available in the food supply chain to cover the recommended intake globally.”
Reducing food loss and waste can be a significant lever for broader improvements of food systems—towards improved food security, food safety, food quality, sustainability, and for increased efficiency. Both Torero and Liz Goodwin, WRI Senior Fellow and Director, agreed that data is central to understand the pressure points of where losses occur and inform strategies to address those losses. The Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste is one such tool developed by IFPRI and FAO at the recommendation of G20 in 2015.
A new CGIAR research initiative on Rethinking Food Markets focuses on reducing food loss and waste, making value chains more efficient, sustainable, and inclusive, and ensuring better income sharing. One such effort is Bunkasa, an agritech logistics firm in Nigeria that motivates farmers to use plastic crates to transport and store food, reducing losses. Another Nigerian company, ColdHubs, extends the shelf life of produce, reducing waste, by providing solar-powered cold storage to farmers close to markets. “Despite various innovations [currently in the markets], they must be adapted to local contexts and bundled appropriately to ensure synergies across different impacts we want to achieve,” said Rob Vos, IFPRI Unit Director for Markets, Trade and Institutions, and Lead, CGIAR Initiative on Rethinking Food Markets, stressing the importance of incentivizing farmers and traders to adapt innovative technologies.
Food loss and waste is a drag on efforts to feed a growing global population given changing dietary patterns, with nearly a third of fruit and vegetable production lost or wasted in product supply chains, while 56% more food will be needed by 2050 to feed the world. One way to limit supply chain losses is Apeel, a plant-based coating applied to produce that keeps moisture in and oxygen out, limiting spoilage. Still, incentives for producers and retailers need to be set up properly to take advantage of the extended shelf life of food, said Apeel’s Senior Sustainability Manager, Shannon Sajdak.
Wasting food is also wasting the money and resources that went into producing that food, said Signe Frese, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Quality at the Coop Denmark supermarket chain. She shared four solutions Coop Denmark is using to tackle this problem at the retail level: Discounted prices for products close to expiration; upcycling products, for example, making banana bread to sell with excess bananas; donating excess food to those in need; and converting food waste into biogas, preventing nitrogen pollution.
The many innovations under discussion will be crucial as countries work toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 12.3—reducing global food loss and waste by half by 2030. Putting them into action requires a food systems approach—to make food systems work toward reducing food loss and waste, we need to improve the quality and availability of information, transparency, and the ability to collaborate. “Only through systems-wide solutions will we make real progress,” Goodwin concluded.
Swati Malhotra is a Communications Specialist with IFPRI’s Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division.
