Current Status of Food Loss and Waste Reduction Maximo Torero Cullen Chief Economist POLICY SEMINAR Food Loss and Waste in Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains Co-organized by IFPRI, Embassy of Denmark, and World Resource Institute MAR 14, 2023 - 9:30 TO 11:00AM EDT 020 Burden of Malnutrition – Global Source: FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2020. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020. 828 million people are undernourished More than 3.1 billion people in the world cannot afford healthy diets 149 45 39 45% million wasted million overweight Children <5 million stunted Nutrient deficiency mortality has malnutrition as an underlying cause Vitamin A deficiency affecting 500,000 childhood blindness /year Folic acid deficiency resulting in 88,000 child deaths /year Iron deficiency affecting millions of children’s disease/disability 0-9 /year. SDG 12.3 SDG 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 Food Waste Food Loss Food Waste Food Loss Source: FAO-SOFA 2019 FOOD LOSS and WASTE: Definitions 020 Global Facts and Figures 13.2 percent of food, valued at $400 billion is lost on an annual basis between harvest and the retail market (FAO 2019) 17 cent of food production is wasted in households, food services and in retail (UNEP 2020) Food loss and waste account for approximately 8-10 per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (UNEP 2021) Globally, food losses percentage estimates by region 0 5 10 15 20 25 Food Loss Percentages globally and by region 2021 2020 2016 • Globally FLP is at 13.2% • Not much change since the first estimates of 2016 ( 13.8%) • In the 2021 estimates: • Highest losses are in SSA at 19.95% • Lowest losses are in Northern America and Europe at 9.19% Globally, food losses percentage estimates by region Region 2016 2020 2021 Globally 13 13.3 13.23 Northern America and Europe 9.2 9.9 9.19 Sub-Saharan Africa 20.5 21.4 19.95 Latin America and the Caribbean 12.2 12.3 14.52 Oceania (Excluding Australia and New Zealand) 13.6 14.8 12.43 Australia and New Zealand 12.6 13.6 13.93 Western Asia and Northern Africa 13.1 14.8 14.18 Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia 15 15.1 14.53 Small Island Developing States 16.3 17.3 18.99 Central Asia and Southern Asia 13.8 13.6 12.62 Least Developed Countries 18 18.9 16.41 Land Locked Developing Countries 14.1 14.9 14.24 Globally, food losses are highest for perishables and nutrient rich foods 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Cereals and pulses Meat and Animal Products Roots, tubers and oil- bearing crops Fruits and vegetables Food Loss Percentage by commodity group 2016 2020 2021 • Highest losses in the Fruits and Veg food group at 31.15% in 2021 estimates . This is due to: • High perishability • Few intervention strategies • Lowest losses in the cereals and pulses food group at 7.23% in 2021 estimates. Could be due to: • Lower perishability (dry grains) • Food security crop so more interventions for loss reduction focused here. Aburto (2021). Presentation on Food loss and waste and their nutritional impacts: an agrifood systems perspective Availability of Fruits & Vegetables Source: FAO, The State of Food and Agriculture 2019. • If we reduced FLW by 50%, there would be sufficient Fruits & Vegetables available in the food supply to cover the recommendations globally. FLW impact the environment from the use of resources used to produce food and from the generation of greenhouse gas emissions FLW Impact Food System Sustainability Sustainability FLW Induce economic losses and reduce returns on investment FLW impede development and hinder social progress Reducing food loss and waste is a significant lever for broader improvements of our food systems toward improving food security, food safety, quality and sustainability and increasing efficiency. United Nations Food Systems Summit. 2021. https://sc-fss2021.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/SDG2 Reducing food loss and waste is a triple win, it: increases access to healthy diets, makes efficient use of our natural resources reduces impacts on the environment. https://sc-fss2021.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/SDG2 On farm postharvest/ slaughter Storage Transportatio n Processing and Packaging Wholesale & Retail Central and Southern Asia Cereals & Pulses Low: 0 Median: 0.4% High: 2.6% Low: 0 Median: 0.5% High: 2.1% Low: 0.1% Median: 0.5% High: 0.7% Low: 0.02% Median: 0.1% High: 0.3% Low: 0.02% Median: 0.2% High: 1.1% Fruit & Veg Low: 0 Median: 1.3% High: 7.7% Low: 0 Median: 1.4% High: 5.9% Low: 0.4% Median: 8% High: 25% Low: 0 Median: 0.03% High: 0.25% Low: 0.3% Median: 5% High: 15% Meat & Fish Global average over value chain up to but excluding retail : 12% Eastern & SE Asia Cereal & Pulses Low: 0.2% Median: 5.5% High: 18% Low: 0.3% Median: 7.2% High: 15% Low: 0.5% Median: 10% High: 15% Low: 0.5% Median: 8% High: 16% Low: 1.2% Median: 4% High: 4.5% Fruit & Veg Low: 0 Median:5.7% High: 12.5% Low: 2.5% Median: 21.3% High: 50% Low: 0.8% Median: 8.4% High: 13% Low: 0 Median: 12.5% High: 37.5% Low: 0.5 Median: 4.9% High: 12.7% Meat & Fish Global average over value chain up to but excluding retail: 12% SSA Cereals & Pulses Low: 0.1% Median: 3.7% High: 17.3% Low: 0 Median: 6.9% High: 22.5% Low: 0.1% Median: 2.3% High: 3.7% Low: 0.1% Median: 3.5% High: 20.2% No data Fruit & Veg Low: 0 Median: 15% High: 50% Low: 0.5% Median: 8.1% High: 35% Low: 0.3% Median: 2.1% High: 28% Low: 0 Median: 4.1% High: 20.5% Low: 0.2% Median: 16.3% High: 35.5% Meat & Fish Global average over value chain up to but excluding retail: 12% Priority areas for reducing FLW Economic Case for Reducing Food Losses Source: Preliminary results based on Laborde and Torero (2021) Source: Preliminary results based on Laborde and Torero (2021) Economic Case for Reducing Food Losses Increasing possibilities to collect and use data - To inform innovation strategies and approaches targeted at reducing food loss and waste. quantity of data and the possibilities to collect and use them in developing policies Innovations along the food chain that create new products, services, and business models are crucial for reducing the amount and extent of food loss and waste worldwide. Strengthening country capacities, especially developing countries, to adopt sustainable innovative approaches and technology to combat food loss and waste Types of Innovations and Actions Needed “There are low-cost, high-impact interventions that can help hundreds of millions of people get rid of hunger. If we can attract an annual investment of about $40 to $50 billion until 2030 to fund targeted interventions — like agricultural R&D, innovation, digital agriculture, reduction of food loss and waste, literacy improvement for women, and social protection programs’. etc. (Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General, 23 September) FAO’s Areas of Emphasis • Sound data and evidence to track the food loss index indicator, and to serve as a basis for policy support to countries. • Introduction of context-appropriate resource efficient sustainable technologies, and innovative approaches to enhance safety and quality. Solar Milk Cooling Technology Plastic crates to reduce transport losses Grain Storage Cassava Press FAO’s Areas of Emphasis Support smallholder uptake and use of digital technologies  Block chain technologies to enhance food traceability  Mobile telephones to increase access to finance.  Online platforms for marketing, e- commerce and food delivery services  ICT to support remote training of stakeholders Apps www.fao.org/platform-food-loss-waste Knowledge sharing and networking Knowledge Sharing, Networking and Technical Exchange that prioritises food loss and waste reduction Thank You