SAVE FOOD – Global Initiative on
food losses and waste reduction
Averting food losses and waste
in the agri-food value chain
Ms. F. Tartanac
Author
Senior Officer
Market Linkages and Value Chain Group, AGS-FAO
www.fao.org/ag/ags
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.
Global food losses and waste:
estimated at 1.3 billion tonnes / year
Source: FAO. 2011. Global food losses and food waste
Global food losses and waste
in agri-food value chain
Per capita food losses and waste (kg/year)
350
300
consumer
production to retailing
250
200
150
100
50
0
Europe
North America,
Oceania
Industrialized Asia
Subsahara Africa
Source: FAO. 2011. Global food losses and food waste
North Africa, West &
Central Asia
South & Southeast
Asia
Latin America
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