FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia organized a consultation workshop in Chisinau, Moldova, where key government officials, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment (MARDE), Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure (MEI), the National Food Safety Agency (NFSA), representatives of the private sector and research, discussed and agreed on a national strategic approach to food loss and waste (FLW) reduction in the country. The workshop was carried out under the FAO’s Regional Technical Cooperation Project "Strategies for Food Loss and Waste Reduction".

During the workshop, FAO presented the results of its two missions to Moldova, completed in October 2018 and in June 2019, aimed at identifying the government’s strategic priorities, as well as existing initiatives and programmes in the areas of value chain development and food loss and waste reduction and to assess the extent, causes and impacts of the issue. To this end, FAO team had met with representatives from key institutions and organizations, with MARDE, MEI, NFSA, EU delegation, ACSA, the National Federation of Farmers and farmers’ cooperatives among them. FAO had also studied selected food supply chains and interviewed various actors, including farmers, processors and retailers. Being in the focus of discussions at the workshop, the outcomes of these missions would feed to subsequent activities at field, technical and policy levels. In the course of consultations, the participants validated a roadmap for prevention and reduction of food loss and waste in Moldova and debated over the new policy initiative launched by the MEI in the area of food loss and waste.

The workshop has also contributed to strengthening multidisciplinary collaboration among stakeholders, which would enable all interested parties to better identify, measure, understand and find solutions to the problem of food loss and waste.

About the Project:

The FAO’s Regional Technical Cooperation Project "Strategies for Food Loss and Waste Reduction" assists the participating countries (Albania, Armenia, Moldova and North Macedonia) in developing and implementing national strategies for food loss and waste reduction, tailored to the specific needs of each country and aligned with existing relevant national strategies and policies on agricultural development, food security, climate change mitigation, etc.

The project also works towards raising awareness about the food loss and waste issue across the region; building capacity; and facilitating collaboration and partnerships among interested actors in Europe and Central Asia. This regional project is part of the comprehensive program for food loss and waste reduction in the region, led by the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, under the umbrella of the Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction - SAVE FOOD.

12 June 2019, Chisinau, Moldova