The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO said the current ways in which foods and fibers are produced, consumed and distributed need “urgent change” if nations want to cut waste and achieve food security.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said reducing food loss and waste represents a “triple win opportunity” with immediate positive impact on food security, climate benefits, and increased availability of nutritious food while improving the overall sustainability of agrifood systems.
“Business as usual is no longer an option, but this could only changed if all partners and players made a concerted effort to implement identified actions,” Qu said in his speech during a recent event to mark the International Day of Awareness and Food Loss and Waste.
Currently more than 13 percent of food produced globally is lost in the supply chain from after harvest and prior to retail, and a further 17 percent is wasted in households, in food services and in retail, according to FAO and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) statistics.
At the same time, millions of people across the world are malnourished, and the world is off course to achieve most globally agreed nutrition targets. Healthy diets are an essential part of addressing this issue, yet more than 3.1 billion people were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2021.
Food loss app
To monitor the progress and use data for continued improvement, FAO launched last September 29 a food loss app dubbed FLAPP. “This app will allow the crowd-sourcing of information from farmers to better understand where in the value chain losses occur, and to provide concrete solutions.”
The UN agency said much of its work on the ground focuses on the reduction of loss in the supply chain, i.e. loss that occurs between harvest and the market, while UNEP’s role is to work more on waste at the retail and household level.
Among the areas in which FAO has been active is supporting micro-, small and medium enterprises in Thailand in pinpointing food loss hotspots and helping to put in place measures to mitigate the losses.
Elsewhere, FAO has introduced improved, sustainable bulk packaging along with good post-harvest management practice, to transport fresh produce in a number of countries in South and Southeast Asia.
In another initiative with partners, FAO is helping to provide training to fishers in Tanzania in new methods for handling and processing fish.
“Finally, FAO has developed a methodology to measure food loss and waste in the service industries of resorts in Small Island Developing States.”
Shift to circular model
Instead of the current linear “take-make-discard” model, Qu said global agrifood systems “must be transformed to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.”
FAO said priorities must be to prevent and reduce food loss and waste at source—in production, handling, processing, packaging, storage, and consumption; rescue, recover and redistribute surplus or unsold food that is safe and suitable for consumption and recycle and upcycle or repurpose by-products to keep them out of landfills.
In a message read on his behalf, Pope Francis said: “The food that we throw into the trash is torn from the hands of those who lack it and who also have the right to food.”
UN Deputy Secretary -General Amina Mohammed said in a video message: “We need profound changes in the way we produce, handle, store, process and consume food if we are serious in tackling food waste.”
