MOVING FORWARD ON FOOD AND WASTE REDUCTION WITHIN THE SCOPE OF SDGs...

Moving forward on food loss and waste reduction...

Rome Italy - Reducing food loss and waste is widely seen as an important way to increase the efficiency of the food system, improve food security and nutrition and contribute towards environmental sustainability. Growing attention to this issue is reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many countries are already taking action to reduce food loss and waste, but the challenges ahead remain significant, and the efforts will only be effective if informed by a solid understanding of the problem.

This year’s the State of Food and Agriculture - one of FAO's major annual flagship publications offering a science-based assessments of important issues in the field of food and agriculture - focuses on food losses and waste. Importantly, the report provides new estimates of the world’s food loss, which indicates that globally – in terms of economic value – around 14 percent of food produced is lost from post-harvest up to the retail level.

The report also analyzes the critical loss points in specific supply chains, which is crucial to deciding on appropriate measures. Addressing policy makers, the document thus provides some guiding principles for designing more informed interventions and actions based on the objectives being pursued through food loss and waste reductions, be they in improved economic efficiency, food security and nutrition or environmental sustainability.

Commenting on the launch of the State of Food and Agriculture, Qu Dongyu, FAO Director General, said: “This report examines the complex ways in which food loss and waste – and the measures taken to address it – affects food security and the environment. Among other things, it attempts to highlight precisely where there is a need for a more thorough understanding of the issues, both through more and better data and improved and expanded analysis. It is my hope that this report can make a contribution to the debate on how to address the problem of food loss and waste most effectively and in ways that actually make a difference in terms of improved food security and environmental sustainability, following the spirit of the 2030 Agenda”.