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Committee on World Food Security 43

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is the leading inclusive, international and intergovernmental platform for stakeholders to work together to ensure food security and nutrition for all. This year, the CFS annual Plenary Session – CFS 43 – will be held on 17–21 October at FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy, with side-events on food loss and waste issues. + READ MORE

Milan Urban Food Policy Pact

The “Milan Urban Food Policy Pact” will take place on 14 October, Rome, Italy and is the first international protocol that calls for cities to develop sustainable food systems that grant healthy and accessible food to all, protect biodiversity and reduce food waste. This year at FAO, mayors will unite to discuss their collaborative efforts in developing sustainable food systems in cities worldwide, and share experiences and best practices. + READ MORE

At the opening session of FAO’s Committee on Agriculture biannual meeting, held on 26–30 September, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva reported that in 2014–2015, FAO supported 245 initiatives in 89 countries to promote sustainable agricultural production practices based on participatory approaches. Within the SAVE FOOD Initiative, FAO supported 45 countries in reducing food waste and loss through a partnership network that includes civil society + READ MORE

Sustainable Development Goals target 12.3 on food loss and waste: 2016 progress report
Champions 12.3

2016 Progress Report is the first in an annual series of publications providing an assessment of the world’s progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 12.3. SDG Target 12.3 aims to “by 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including postharvest losses.” . + READ MORE

United Nations agencies in Rome vow to take forward Zero Hunger Challenge

The heads of the Rome-based food and agriculture agencies thanked United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his personal commitment and leadership in challenging the world to reach Zero Hunger. They promised to maintain momentum to reach the ambitious target by 2030. The Zero Hunger Challenge is based around five objectives: access to enough food and a healthy diet for all people, all year round; an end to malnutrition in all its forms; sustainable food systems form production to consumption; an end to rural poverty - doubling smallholder productivity and incomes; adapting food systems to eliminate loss and waste. + READ MORE

SAVE FOOD Meeting 2016: against food waste – prevention, commitment and collaboration (Spanish)
Sweetpress

More than 300 professionals from public administration, private companies, consumer associations and food banks gathered at the SAVE FOOD Meeting/IV Point Aecoc Conference against food waste on 26 September at the Ateneo de Madrid. Queen Letizia, FAO Special Ambassador for Nutrition, demonstrated her support to reducing food waste by attending a round table on "Are we informing consumers correctly?". + READ MORE

Feeding the 5000 events spread out across America as part of the fight against food waste
Feedback

As part of the growing fight against food waste that is sweeping the United States of America, Feedback – the environmental non-profit organization working to end waste at every level of the food system – announced the next stage of its campaign to bring its popular Feeding the 5000 food waste awareness festivals to United States cities this autumn. With support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the campaign trail includes Feeding the 5000, in Portland, Maine on 7 October; Feeding the Hudson Valley, in Poughkeepsie, New York on 8 October; and Feeding the 5000 Front Range, in Denver, Colorado on 14 October. + READ MORE

Bill C-231: act on fighting food waste
Openparliament.ca

This private member’s bill put before the Canadian Parliament seeks to designate 16 October as “National Food Waste Awareness Day” and provides for the development and implementation of a national strategy for reducing food waste in Canada. + READ MORE

Food waste investigation
Evening Standard

Supermarkets in the United Kingdom are under pressure to accelerate action to prevent good food from going to waste as the Evening Standard launches a major investigation into food waste. United Kingdom supermarkets throw away 115 000 tonnes of perfectly good food each year. + READ MORE

Poland is taking action against food waste
go.loal.pl

Following recommendations from FAO and the European Commission, Poland has taken the first step in tackling the huge problem of food waste. The Polish Senate is drafting a law that will oblige shops to give away products, including fresh ones, that are still good for consumption but soon to expire. + READ MORE

African Development Bank concerned about postharvest losses
Nigerian Television Authority

The African Development Bank has expressed concerns about the challenge of postharvest losses in Africa and is calling on all stakeholders to suggest immediate solutions, emphasizing the need for policy regulations to end postharvest losses in the region. + READ MORE

United Nations climate change conference 2016
COP 22

The 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is scheduled for 7–18 November 2016. During COP 22, the Parties will begin preparations for the entry into force of the Paris Agreement. SAVE FOOD is one of the cooperative initiatives included in the Global Climate Action Agenda and has brought the challenge of food loss and waste into international arena for discussing climate issues. + READ MORE

Urbanization, rural transformation and implications for food security
Online consultation on the background document to the CFS Forum

Over the four weeks of consultation, participants from 21 countries shared 51 contributions. Participants shared many ideas on which challenges and opportunities could be addressed and how this could be done. Food loss and waste is a symptom of a larger problem concerning the production system. + READ MORE

‘Urgent action’ needed to tackle Japan’s food waste
By Gary Scattergood

Food manufacturers in Japan have made good progress in reducing and recycling food waste, but further efforts are urgently needed across all other stages of the supply chain, especially at the consumer level. + READ MORE

Ghana loses 318,514 tonnes of maize annually to postharvest losses
Graphic Online

Ghana loses about 318,514 tonnes of maize annually to postharvest losses, an expert in Postharvest Losses Management with the Africa Postharvest Losses Information System (APHLIS), Dr Bruno Tran, has said. That figure, he said, represents 18 per cent of the country’s annual maize production. + READ MORE

Italy sets example on reducing food waste
NBC NEWS

Italy has adopted a new law that drastically cuts down on food waste — the second such law in Europe, after France’s. Until now, saving food has not received much attention in Italy, which discards more than 17 percent of its food every year, according to research by the University of Bologna (Italy) and the European Union. See “Italy passes law against food waste” below. + READ MORE

Feeding the 5000 Events
7 October in Monument Square, Portland, Maine;
8 October at Walkway Over the Hudson, Poughkeepsie, New York;
14 October in Skyline Park in Denver, Colorado.

Milan Urban Food Policy Pact
Rome, Italy, HQ FAO 14 October 2016
FAO is supporting this initiative by helping to establish indicators that will measure the impact of the Pact, and by exchanging best practices among cities.

World Food Day 2016 - Climate is changing, food and agriculture must too
Rome, Italy, HQ FAO, 16 October 2016
Food waste is one of the areas of 2016 World Food Day theme (climate is changing, food and agriculture must too).

Seventh International Conference on Agricultural Statistics (ICAS VII)
Rome, Italy, HQ FAO, 26 - 28 October 2016
Measuring food losses and food waste is one of the theme of the Plenary and Parallel Sessions.

Sustainable Retail Summit of the Consumer Goods Forum
Paris, France, 27 - 28 October 2016
The first Sustainable Retail Summit will focus on environmental and social-sustainable issues in industry. The topics to be addressed include food waste, forced labour, and health and wellness.

Zero Waste Conference
Vancouver, Canada, 3 November 2016
Food waste is on the list of topics of the Zero Waste Conference programme.

UN Climate Change Conference, COP 22
Marrakech, Morocco, 7 - 18 November 2016
SAVE FOOD is one of the cooperative Initiatives under the Global Climate Action Agenda and has officially brought the FLW challenge into the international climate arena.

Sustainable Development Forum 2016 - Food and Climate Change
Tallinn, Estonia, 8 November 2016
Reducing food waste plays an important role in providing food security to all and mitigating the environmental pressure of food systems.