An FAO webinar, focusing on Europe and Central Asia, was held to exchange and promote new practices for facilitating vulnerable groups’ access to food and tackling food waste through the development and adoption of innovative solutions. A recording of the virtual event, “Food waste prevention and reduction in times of crisis,” is available online.

Prevention and control measures related to the COVID-19 human health crisis have not only brought the fragility of our agrifood systems to the forefront, but have also further challenged them. Whereas significant amounts of food are lost and wasted at different stages of the value chain as a result of logistical and other issues, the difficulty in obtaining food donations has hampered the effort to feed the growing number of vulnerable populations (including those affected financially by the crisis) through recovering and redistributing – otherwise lost or wasted – surplus food.