Globally, 14 percent of all food produced is lost or wasted from harvest to transport, storage, and processing, amounting to around USD 400 billion (FAO, 2019) while, in 2019, around 931 million tons of food were wasted (17% of total global food production): 61% by households, 26% by food services, and 13% by retail (UNEP, 2021).

As most of food waste is the result of certain behaviour, a new – behaviour-targeting – approach is required to tackle the issue. Applying behavioural insights to understanding and addressing behaviour and barriers to its change, adds a new lens to the conventional approach to studying the issue and designing solutions.

FAO’s project “Food Waste Reduction through Awareness and Behaviour Change along the Food Supply and Consumption Chain”, which was awarded Innovation Fund earlier this year, will localize and assess behaviour-related food loss and waste levels and causes along food supply chains (FSC), as well as at the level of consumption, identify the change in behaviour that is required by FSC actors and consumers, determine its feasibility, and develop, recommend, and disseminate good practices to reduce behaviour-related food loss and waste.

The project is being implemented in Azerbaijan and Georgia, where FAO had earlier formulated national strategies for FLW reduction and corresponding action plans.

The project is supported by an Incubator providing training and coaching on innovation-related methodologies.

21 December 2022, Chisinau, Moldova - On 3rd of November 2022 the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova approved the Law on food loss and food waste prevention that will come into force in May 2023.

The Law aims to advance prevention and reduction food loss and waste (FLW) at all stages of a food value chain, as well as to contribute to the improvement of food security and nutrition and minimization of the environmental impacts of the food system. Thereby, the Law is the nexus between the reduction of food loss and waste, food safety and quality, and environmental protection.

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI) in Moldova has welcomed the recent approval of the Law on Food Loss and Waste Prevention, which will come into force in May 2023. MAFI recognizes its importance for advancing the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste at all stages along a food value chain, as well as for contributing to improved nutrition, environmental protection, and poverty alleviation through sustainable agri-food systems – one of the MAFI’s strategic goals”, underlined Vladimir Bolea, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry. "Furthermore, we express great appreciation to FAO's support with regards to food loss and waste reduction efforts and we look forward to continuing successful collaboration, going forwardmost notably FAO's assistance disseminating information amongst national stakeholders; capacity development for food business operators regarding implementation measures whilst ensuring efficient use of resources along supply chains", added the official. [Read more]

10 October 2022, Istanbul, Türkiye – On 5–6 October the regional conference on food loss and waste in Europe and Central Asia “Enabling the change” took place to explore and discuss strategies, tools, and practical interventions to reduce food loss and waste and to identify the essential elements of environments conducive to the transition to sustainable food value chains. The event was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Türkiye, the Economic Cooperation Organization Regional Coordination Centre for Food Security, with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of The Netherlands.

With a mandate to defeat hunger and achieve food security and good nutrition for all and as a custodian of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 12.3.1 on reducing food loss and waste, FAO takes the leadership role in the area of food loss and waste and supports the coordinated action needed for impact. In this spirit, the conference brought together over 150 experts, practitioners, decision-makers, representatives of academia and non-government organisations from 27 countries in Europe and Central Asia to take a stock of recent developments and challenges with regard to food loss and waste reduction in the region and identify good practices and effective solutions to tackle the issue. 

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Türkiye, Ebubekir Gizligider, opened the conference, emphasizing that Türkiye is open to international dialogue and cooperation to accelerate and reinforce the response to food loss and waste, especially in the face of ongoing crisis in the world. [Read more]

17 May 2022, Baku – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan, government officials, major private sector actors, representatives of civil society organizations and academia gathered today to endorse a strategy on food loss and waste (FLW) prevention and reduction in the country.

FAO organized a full-day consultation workshop to present the findings and conclusions of its in-depth analysis of FLW in Azerbaijan to key national stakeholders, and to put forward a draft national Strategy on Food Loss and Waste Prevention, Reduction and Monitoring in Azerbaijan for discussion and validation.

The workshop concluded the strategy formulation process, which started with an assessment by FAO of the country-specific context in regard to food loss and waste, including its causes and impacts and existing policy and legislative frameworks affecting FLW management in Azerbaijan. The strategy will be finalized in line with views and recommendations received from workshop participants and approved for further implementation.

The approach proposed by Azerbaijan’s strategy aims to reduce FLW by focusing on all stages of the food supply chain: production, processing, distribution and consumption cycle. The strategy also supports a shift towards a circular value chain, enabling resources invested in food production to be secured and optimized. [Read more]

25 January 2022, Moscow - FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation and Messe Düsseldorf Moscow assembled Fifth Conference on food loss and waste reduction. The event was organised in the framework of the joint SAVE FOOD Initiative and as part of the annual processing and packaging trade fair in Russia Upakovka-2022. The Conference programme explored the existing trends in the packaging industry in the context of food losses and waste reduction.

Packaging plays an important role in keeping food fresh, ensuring it is safe as well as extending its shelf-life to reduce loss and waste. At the same time, the amount of packaging waste that’s left behind is a serious threat to our environment. 

Over the last few years, steps have been taken globally to introduce regulations to drive sustainability in this field. The need for change in packaging waste management and the food industry trends, as well as shifting consumer preferences, resulted in experiments with innovative and functional packaging solutions, made from renewable and recycled materials. In addition, industry actors continue to explore the ways to redesign and rethink delivery chains in line with circular economy model. This requires much closer collaboration with upstream players, packaging recyclers to successfully deal with new challenges. 

The representatives of UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Russia Office, Moscow State University of Food Production, “Russian Quality System” (Roskachestvo), “Packaging” Technical Committee of the Federal Agency on Technical Regulation and Metrology (Rosstandart), and others shared their considerations as regards the industry development in Russia, presented sustainability-focused initiatives and best practices.

Please follow this link to find out more about the conference insights, review the presentations or watch the event video recording.

16 December 2021, Ankara – A recent report revealed that retail sector alone accounts for 13 percent of 931 million tonnes of food waste that was generated in the world in 2019. The causes of food waste at this stage of food supply chain often include fluctuations in seasonal supply of fresh food, changes in consumer demand, inappropriate sizes or packaging, visual defects or damage to a food item or the packaging, esthetical considerations for fresh produce or lack of consumer understanding concerning the date markings to name a few.

Positioned in the middle of food supply chains, retailers have considerable market power to affect change and curb food waste. Indeed, by collaborating with food business operators, retail actors can influence upstream and downstream handling of food, and in so doing contribute to reducing food waste along supply chains. Food retail businesses are also in direct reach with consumers and so can empower them to make sustainable food-related choices.

Recognising the pivotal role that the sector has to play in reducing food waste, Turkish food retailer Migros Ticaret A.Ş., under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey and with the support of FAO, prepared a guide to reducing food waste in retail. [Read more]

14 December 2021, Ankara – FAO conducted a comprehensive training on measurement, monitoring and reporting of food losses for key national stakeholders in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, aimed at supporting countries in developing effective food loss and waste reduction strategies and monitoring their progress towards achieving SDG target 12.3.

Curbing food loss and waste can only be truly effective if the related efforts are informed by a solid understanding of the problem. While significant work has been undertaken to measure food loss and waste, data remains scarce, scattered, and of unknown quality or limited representativeness.

To support Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in overcoming the challenges facing data collection and form effective solutions towards reducing food loss or waste, FAO organized a three-day training for relevant national stakeholders. The three sessions took place on 26 October, 9 November and 7 December 2021. The training participants, consisting of government representatives and statisticians, learnt to identify data needs and priorities, explored available methods and tools for food loss data collection, and discussed complementarity among different instruments.

The training also introduced and discussed ways to integrate and compile the Food Loss Index. The latter was developed by FAO to measure progress towards achieving target 12.3.1.a of the Sustainable Development Goals, which is under the custodianship of the organization. [Read more]

29 September 2021, Ankara, Turkey – On the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, FAO, Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the Regional Coordination Centre for Food Security of the Economic Cooperation Organization held a conference to reflect on existing challenges pertaining to food loss and waste in Azerbaijan, Central Asia, and Turkey and to take stock of actions urgently needed to reduce food loss and waste.

The conference urged national governments in the subregion to support necessary policy changes and adopt adequate regulatory mechanisms to create a conducive environment for other partners to act for the reduction of food loss and waste.

“Policymakers shall create an enabling framework, including policy and regulatory mechanisms that incentivize other players to take concrete actions to reduce food loss and waste,” said Viorel Gutu, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia and FAO Representative in Turkey, in his opening speech.

Gutu’s statement was seconded by Ahmet Volkan Gungoren, Regional Programme Coordinator for the Regional Coordination Centre: “Reduction of food loss and waste is a key topic for policy design and interventions, and a joint response is required to address this challenge.”

By showcasing best practices and success stories, the conference also aimed to inspire multi-disciplinary, solution-driven collaboration among public, private, and civil society actors within and between countries. Realizing and enhancing the positive impacts of reducing food loss and waste requires good governance and all players working together in a coherent way.

Representatives of FAO and the Ministry shared recent developments in the area of food loss and waste reduction in the subregion, including implementation of the key elements of the Turkish National Strategy and Action Plan for Food Loss and Waste Prevention and Reduction and country-specific analysis of causes and impacts of food loss and waste in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Aylin Caglayan Ozcan, General Director for the EU and Foreign Relations at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey, highlighted that Turkey is willing to share their experience and learn from other countries to reduce food loss and waste.

The invited speakers from different sectors presented inspiring cases and innovative and technological solutions, ranging from legal advancement facilitating food donations and date labelling improvement to nanoengineered food packaging and a technology-based platform for surplus food management.

The conference was organised as part of the project Reduction of Food Loss and Waste in Azerbaijan, Central Asia, and Turkey, funded by the Government of Turkey within the framework of the FAO–Turkey Partnership Programme on Food and Agriculture. The project supports Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in developing and implementing national strategies and action plans to reduce food loss and waste, by incorporating policy and technical aspects, and targeting all subsectors of the food system from farmers to consumers. In addition, the project seeks to promote a subregional dialogue, mobilize actors both public and private, and facilitate action to tackle food loss and waste.

30 June 2021, Ankara, Turkey - FAO and Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry last year kicked off a national media campaign named ‘Save Your Food’, as part of the SAVE FOOD: Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction, to raise awareness of the impacts of food loss and waste, to encourage action, and to promote collaboration along the food supply chain.

Today, to celebrate its first anniversary, the campaign brought together numerous representatives of the private, public, and non-profit sectors, as well as from academia, who are actively working to reduce food loss and waste in Turkey. The celebration allowed parties to take stock of the campaign’s public impact and achievements to date, and to present the details of upcoming activities.

So far, the campaign has reached over 21 million people via awareness-raising activities with the support of Istanbul and Ankara metropolitan municipalities, the Union of Municipalities of Turkey, United Nations agencies, diplomatic missions, social-impact groups, Turkey’s major players in food production, retail, and hospitality sectors, media agencies, public figures, and influencers. [read more]

14 April 2021, Budapest, Hungary – Post-harvest food loss is a leading cause of food insecurity for millions of people across the world. In 2019, 690 million suffered from hunger and the situation has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, everyone involved, including farmers, handlers, traders, and governments, are part of the solution to prevent and reduce harvest and post-harvest losses and produce enough food for a growing population.

To this end, FAO organized a webinar to support farmers and producers in revising and improving the practices that result in food losses after harvest. At the virtual event, which recording is now available online, prominent experts and practitioners across the region presented the most recent and relevant solutions and successes. 

Current world population is expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050, further adding to global food security concerns. In order to feed this larger, more urban population, food supply will need to increase by a staggering 70 percent. With food production being continuously challenged by limited land and water resources, as well as weather variability due to climate change, achieving the goals of food security in a sustainable way would also require reduction of losses, in particular, at the harvest and post-harvest stages.

“Reduced post-harvest food losses would mean greater productivity and increased food security for farmers; improved economic performance for governments; and, most importantly, more abundant and inexpensive food for consumers. Tackling post-harvest losses will also have a positive environmental effect,” explained Robert van Otterdijk, agro-industry officer at FAO. Therefore, by preventing post-harvest losses in food systems, the availability of food worldwide can be increased without requiring additional resources or placing additional burdens on the environment.

Factors that contribute to food loss at the post-harvest stage range from inefficient handling to spillage during transport, and from spoilage due to poor storage to poor management decisions and insufficient infrastructure.

Particularly, Josianne Cloutier and Hans de Wild from Wageningen University and Research provided an in-depth view on the ripening and deterioration processes in fresh produce, including the most important factors for measurement, evaluation, and modelling of product quality and loss, as well as current technologies for storage, packaging, and handling.

Blazhe Josifovski, Ajde Makedonija, North Macedonia, and Anatolie Fala, National Agency for Rural Development, Republic of Moldova, presented practical case studies on the application of good harvesting and post-harvesting practices to improve value chain performance and reduce food loss and waste in the region.

The webinar is part of a series of online talks, called Impact Webinars, aimed at identifying and promoting good practices and inspire transformative interventions to prevent and reduce food loss and waste along the whole food supply chain. Each webinar will focus on a specific stage of the food supply chain from production to consumption, offering practical and evidence-based solutions that may be replicated or scaled up at national or regional level.

4 March 2021, Ankara – Hotels, restaurants and food services have a vital role to play in reducing food loss and waste. These include reviewing how they source produce, create menus, and manage leftovers and plate waste.

To ensure improvements in this area, FAO is bringing together public and private actors to undertake common actions. To this end, FAO met with Metro Turkey (a subsidiary of METRO AG, a leading international wholesale company that specializes in serving the needs of hotels, restaurants and caterers) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey yesterday, with the objective of jointly reducing food loss and waste in Turkey’s hotel, restaurant, catering and hospitality sector.

Reducing food waste is one of the major global challenges of our time. In Turkey alone, 18 million tonnes of food is thrown out every year, a figure that rises to around 88 million tonnes for EU countries. When food is discarded in this manner the valuable resources used in its production are also lost, even before the high cost of food disposal is taken into account.

While food service companies adapt to the new normal, the considerable amounts of food are wasted during preparation and storage. The lack of knowledge about how to evaluate leftovers (whether in the kitchen, on buffet tables or customers’ plates) and oversupply and overproduction due to inaccurate estimates have made waste management a key priority in the food and hospitality industry. In order to address food loss and waste and its negative impacts, it will be crucial to determine where and why it is generated, as well as to implement best practices for better management.

By combining their expertise and efforts, FAO, the Ministry and Metro Turkey aim to develop guidance, checklists and tips for the food and hospitality sector, which any hospitality institution can follow to reduce food waste. The guidelines will include recommendations to prevent food wastage, as well as information on how to use unavoidable food surplus, such as donations to people in need, or the re-use of leftovers and/or non-edible food waste for other purposes (e.g. feed, recovery into energy through compost, etc.). [Continue reading]

18 January 2021, Ankara – FAO in collaboration with Sabri Ülker Foundation, will distribute “Do Good: Save Food!” teaching manuals to over 6 million students, teachers and parents in 20 cities across Turkey.

Sabri Ülker Foundation’s Balanced Nutrition Education Project on food literacy for children will introduce a component on food waste reduction. For this, the Foundation will use the series of teaching manuals “Do Good: Save Food!” that were developed by FAO and the International Food Waste Coalition to help children and young people from five to fourteen years old and up to learn about food waste and the ways to prevent and reduce it in their everyday lives.

The “Do Good: Save Food!” materials seek to educate children about the negative impacts of wasting food and the actions that children can take to reduce food waste and good habits that they can develop and introduce to their friends, families and communities to reduce food waste.

Referring to the particular contribution of the Sabri Ülker Foundation to educating children on various aspects of food literacy, FAO Assistant Representative in Turkey, Ayşegül Selışık, noted that all of us can create a positive and sustainable behavior change by investing in the education of children - the future consumers.

Begüm Mutuş, General Manager at Sabri Ülker Foundation highlighted the significance of their collaboration with FAO and added that “Improving the understanding of our food choices on our health, the environment and our economy across society is vital.”

In addition to the educational materials, recently FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry released a series of animated videos for children, featuring Cano, the food saviour, who explains in a visually engaging and comprehensive way how food waste affects our lives by worsening the climate change, wasting resources, but also about what each of us can do to stop food from being wasted. Please explore “The Adventures of Cano” here.

25 November 2020, Ankara, Turkey – FAO and the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry convened a meeting of high-level officials from Central Asia to establish a joint Food Loss and Waste Strategy Committee mandated to oversee the development and implementation of the regional food loss and waste reduction programme.

The newly launched body will also support and monitor the implementation of food loss and waste reduction and management activities at country level and facilitate the engagement of other partners. Thus, it will serve as a platform for cooperation and information and knowledge sharing for the participating countries.

The Committee is part of an FAO project representing a wider effort for the reduction of food loss and waste in the Central Asian countries that includes Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, and is implemented within the framework of the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme for Agriculture.

As the project aims to assist recipient countries in formulating food loss and waste reduction strategies and action plans, the new Committee – an inter-governmental body – will channel national experience into the regional approach and help align food loss and waste reduction strategies within local contexts and needs. To this end, the Committee will bring in the national perspective, including related state policies and legislation, as well as domestic targets. 

“The Committee, comprising governmental representatives, is an important instrument for recognizing the issue of food loss and waste reduction, as well as coordinating the efforts between participating countries” said in his opening remarks Viorel Gutu, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia and FAO Representative in Turkey.

Ahmet Volkan Gungoren, Deputy General Director at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, expressed his strong belief in the Committee to become “one of the most important instruments to facilitate and drive action on food loss and waste reduction. By working together, and with FAO’s support and guidance, we would be able to develop an exemplary future-proof model of tackling this issue for the whole region.”

Save your food!

Turkey has been actively fighting food waste and supporting other countries in this. In May FAO and Turkey launched a joint national media campaign called “Save Your Food” to raise public awareness and understanding of the issue and promote good practices to prevent and reduce food loss and waste among all actors in food supply chain.

The campaign released Turkey’s first National Strategy and Action Plan on the Prevention and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste, developed by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, including the reviews and recommendations of over 100 related actors. The Action Plan includes 95 concrete measures, including legal and policy, technical, education and communication measures, addressing the issue at each stage of the food value chain. Now, the establishment of the Food Loss and Waste Strategy Committee is expected to advance the Strategy’s implementation.

“Save Your Food” invited public and private partners to provide their support in addressing the actions stated in the plan. Given that one-third of the identified actions fall under the responsibilities of local authorities, FAO held a series of meetings with the Union of Municipalities of Turkey, and Ankara and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipalities to expand collaboration with this sector. Aiming to reach out to the food sector, FAO also works closely with the Federation of Food and Drink Industry Associations of Turkey. FAO continues to bring together interested partners ranging from private sector to non-governmental organizations to prevent and reduce food loss and waste.

An average Ukrainian generates 250-300 kilograms of waste per year; and this number is expected to rise. At that, up to 60% of solid municipal waste is composed of organic waste, including food waste. The current methods of waste management in Ukraine – mere collection of mixed waste and landfill disposal - have a detrimental impact on the environment. Therefore, the issue requires immediate attention.

In 2014–2017, Ukraine adopted the National Waste Management Strategy until 2030 as part of its commitment under the Association Agreement with the EU. The Strategy envisages a gradual transition from landfill waste disposal to a comprehensive waste management system, including sorting and segregation of waste for further recycling, processing and burial in the EU-compliant sanitary landfills.

With most waste accumulating in densely populated urban areas, cities must be at the forefront of tackling the problem. However, the challenges that municipalities are facing due to lack of technical and financial capacity and low policy priority hamper the efforts.     

FAO initiates action in two major cities of Ukraine

In 2019, FAO started a pilot project in two cities of Ukraine – Kyiv and Lviv – aimed to assist the Ukrainian Government in reducing municipal food waste management in line with the National Waste Management Strategy and relevant policies.

In doing so, FAO partnered with the All-Ukrainian Environmental League to study the municipal solid waste management practiced in the two cities. In addition, food losses and waste at retail, HoReCa and consumer levels were assessed, as these contribute significantly to the municipal waste generation. It was estimated that food waste makes from 20 to 55 per cent of all solid municipal waste. The findings were used to feed recommendations for the government of Ukraine, local authorities, and non-governmental organizations to advance the municipal solid waste management system.

While the sector requires structural reforms, FAO and the All-Ukrainian Environmental League focused on the reduction of food waste in households and food businesses and the improvement of food security situation of vulnerable groups in Kyiv and Lviv through an educational program and food recovery and redistribution activities. The latter include a so-called "Feed Your Neighbour" initiative, which through a network of volunteers recovers food surpluses from local food companies and redistributes it to food-insecure groups and individuals. The All-Ukrainian Environmental League established partnerships with a number of food producers, retailers and food service companies to support a care centre for elderly people in Kyiv and a homeless shelter in Lviv, as both institutions rely on donations to meet immediate needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged.

To facilitate and expand the reach of this initiative, the All-Ukrainian Environmental League is working to develop an online platform for registration of surplus food available for collection from businesses. Thus, the platform would connect the potential food donors - farmers, retailers, and businesses in the HoReCa sector – with food banks, civil society organizations, and municipal social care institutions to claim donations for redistribution to their food-insecure beneficiaries.

In addition, the All-Ukrainian Environmental League is working on the adaptation of educational materials that will be used in primary and secondary schools of Kyiv and Lviv to educate children on food waste reduction. The package of educational guides “Do Good: Save Food!” was developed by FAO in close cooperation with International Food Waste Coalition to shape and promote a more sustainable consumption among children. For, educating young people – the future consumers - would bring about the behaviour change required to stem food waste problem.

The guides seek to promote awareness of the economic, social and environmental consequences of wasting food, advantages of preventing food waste, actions that children can take to reduce food waste and good habits that they can develop and introduce to their friends, families and communities to reduce food waste.

The package comprises four teaching manuals targeted to children of different age groups and includes games, quizzes and other interactive activities to help improve knowledge and understanding of children, but also empower them to start acting differently now.  

About the project

This project is implemented under FAO’s regional SAVE FOOD Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction with the support of the Multidisciplinary Fund.

The SAVE FOOD Initiative of FAO aims to guide and facilitate collaboration between the private sector, governments, research, and civil society to improve the general impact of interventions through joint planning and implementation and efficient use of resources. SAVE FOOD takes a multi-disciplinary holistic, integrated approach, to ensure that food loss and waste reduction is technically, economically, environmentally and socially acceptable, feasible and cost-effective.

FAO’s Multidisciplinary Fund (MDF), being part of the Programme Work and Budget in 2018-19, were funding initiatives to strengthen collaboration across disciplines and organizational boundaries and to encourage formulation of creative measures that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of delivering Regional Initiatives and the work of FAO Strategic Programs at country level.

11 November 2020, Budapest, Hungary – 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.

To this end, experts from different sectors shared their first-hand experience and discussed solutions and practices to prevent and reduce food waste in this unprecedented situation.

“FAO encourages countries to adopt holistic approaches to tackle food loss and waste, and ensure access to food for all – particularly for vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Robert van Otterdijk, FAO agro-industry officer. “As a baseline, FAO’s policy paper provides ideas for strategic measures and interventions to reduce food loss and waste in traditional food supply chains.”

Angela Frigo, the Secretary General of the European Food Banks Federation noted that during the lockdown period in Europe, food demand increased on average by 30 percent, but food banks continued to support the most needy, with digital tools making a real difference. 

Liliana Annovazzi-Jakab, Head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Agricultural Quality Standards Unit, presented the initiative called FeedUP@UN that builds on systematic tracing of food loss and online marketplaces for fast distribution of recovered food.

Noting the importance of collaboration and communication along the entire supply chain to reduce food loss and waste, Liz Goodwin, Director of the World Resources Institute, highlighted some corporate initiatives, such as the 10x20x30 that could serve as a model for others to follow.

The panel discussion featured: Ellen Oetelmans, program manager of Amsterdam Impact; Irina Kuzmina, Charity Programs Manager of X5 Retail Group; and Balázs Cseh, President of the Hungarian Food Bank Association.

22 October, 2020, Ankara – Under the joint Save Your Food campaign, FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey launched a national social media initiative called “I Pledge”, which aims to trigger food waste reduction through behavioural change around food.

At the press conference assembled on this occasion, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Bekir Pakdemirli recounted the progress made by the Save Your Food campaign since its launch in May 2020. Pakdemirli underlined the efforts made to educate and sensitize the public with the issue.

Initiated by Minister Pakdemirli, the “I Pledge” social media campaign also received extensive support from numerous public figures, notably well-known nutritionist and FAO Supporter Dilara Koçak as well as singer Gülben Ergen, actress and singer Şevval Sam, TV Presenter and author Özge Uzun and former football player Tanju Çolak.

The Save Your Food campaign in Turkey plans to widen consumer knowledge of the benefits of reducing food waste and encourage the development of waste prevention behaviours – so as to achieve profound and lasting changes in the way that people consume food. “Save Your Food” has also invited public and private partners to support the activities organized under the campaign. The engagement of other stakeholders, including the country’s largest producers and retailers, will be essential for the creation of an environment conducive for such behavioural change.

29 September 2020, Rome/Nairobi/New York – At the global event marking today the first International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and their partners urged everyone to do more to reduce food loss and waste or risk an even greater drop in food security and natural resources.

Some 690 million people today are hungry and three billion cannot afford a healthy diet. Hunger has been on the rise for the past five years, and the COVID-19 pandemic is threatening the food and nutrition security of up to an additional 132 million of people. On top of that, we are faced with an ecosystem decline and the consequences of climate change.

Yet, food continues to be lost and wasted. This year we have witnessed an increase in food loss and waste as a result of movement and transport restrictions due to the pandemic.

COVID-19 aside, however, each year about 14 percent of the world's food is lost before even reaching the market. Food loss is valued at $400 billion annually - about the GDP of Austria. On top of this comes food waste, for which new estimates are coming out early 2021. When it comes to environmental impact, food loss and waste generate eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Food loss occurs from farm up to and excluding retail, whilst food waste occurs at retail, food service and household level. Causes range from poor handling, inadequate transport or storage, lack of cold chain capacity, extreme weather conditions to cosmetic standards, and a lack of planning and cooking skills among consumers.

Simply put, reducing food lost or wasted means more food for all, less greenhouse gas emissions, less pressure on the environment, and increased productivity and economic growth. 

[Continue reading here]

Photo:©İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality

11 August 2020, Ankara/ Istanbul - FAO held a series of meetings with Ankara and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipalities, pioneers in food waste prevention and reduction. The meetings aimed to expand collaboration with the Municipalities as part of the project: “Reduction of Food Loss and Waste in Central Asia”, which is implemented jointly by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey.

During the meeting the parties explored issues ranging from strengthening local food value chains to improving food security and preventing and reducing food loss and waste. Both, the Mayor of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality and the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality expressed their deep concern about the alarming signs of increasing food insecurity in the world. And while the food produced is enough to feed everyone, each year nearly a third of it is squandered or lost. It is estimated that 18 million tonnes of food is lost or wasted in Turkey annually. As the Mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Ekrem İmamoğlu, highlighted, the amount of food waste in Istanbul alone equals the number of hungry in some countries.

A considerable work to be done to curb the issue. Viorel Gutu, Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia and FAO Representative in Turkey, noted that actions to tackle these troubling trends would have to be accelerated and scaled up in terms of cross-sectoral and multidiciplinary collaboration. “Under the Save Your Food campaign we are looking to establish strong partnerships to broaden the reach and impact of our efforts in preventing and reducing food loss and waste at local and national level.”

The Municipalities of Ankara and Istanbul committed to support the campaign through the dissemination of relevant messages and informational materials. In addition, the implementation of relevant actions of the National Strategy for Prevention, Reduction and Management of food Losses and Waste in Turkey would be considered.

The national Save Your Food campaign was launched in Turkey by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to raise public awareness and understanding of the issue and promote good practices to prevent and reduce food loss and waste. 

Funded by the Government of the Republic of Turkey, the project “Reduction of Food Loss and Waste in Central Asia” aims to assist Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in developing measures to reduce food loss and waste. In particular, the project will support the recipient countries to develop national strategic policy and action plans to reduce FLW; 
improve knowledge management and capacities; 
and raise awareness and understanding of food loss and waste among the actors.  


On June 8, 2020, Federal Law on amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation came into force. The law establishes income tax preferences for donations to public-benefit and non-profit organisations, as well as to those that have suffered from the COVID-19. The amendments to the Tax Code provide the incentives for legal entities to support charity organisations, including food banks.

Charitable contributions made by legal entities to non-profit organisations may be now attributed to the so-called non-operating costs – up to 1% of revenue, and thus qualify for tax relief.

“The companies that donate food and essential goods to us will be able to benefit from the tax amendments. What is important, this applies not only to product donations, but also to monetary contributions that are essential for continuous operations of non-profit organisations. However, while the amendments provide exemption from paying income tax, we believe that the abolition of VAT payment would further increase the volume of food and products donations, which is especially needed at the moment", commented Yulia Nazarova, Head of the Rus Food Fund.

The amendment of the corresponding government order is being considered. The relevant State Duma committee and the Accounts Chamber supported the initiative.

Russia generates 17 million tons of food waste annually, 94% of which is sent to landfills. According to the Federal Supervisory Natural Resources Management Service, their existing capacity will be exhausted in 3 - 5 years.

To this end, the State Duma proposed to ban food waste disposal in municipal solid waste landfills. It is expected that the new regulations would come into force on January 1, 2022, thus allowing the waste management industry to adapt and take measures.

The ban would not apply to mixed waste generated by the population, but concern legal entities only. More information (content in Russian).

08 July 2020, Ankara Turkey – FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey organised a special session today with the Union of the Municipalities of Turkey as the part of the joint SAVE YOUR FOOD campaign.

Launched in May, the Campaign released the National Strategy and Action Plan on the Prevention and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste in Turkey, developed in collaboration by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey, while taking into consideration reviews and recommendations of over 100 related stakeholders, ranging from private sector to NGOs and academia to interest groups.

The Strategy and Action Plan aim to empower and provide guidance for policy- and decision-makers, as well as the actors who actively engage on the matter, and accelerate efforts to prevent food loss and waste through adopting concrete solutions.

As per the initial step, a dedicated session was organized with the Union of the Municipalities of Turkey, which participation and support would be of utmost importance for a successful implementation of the Action Plan. 

In his opening remarks, Viorel Gutu, Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia and FAO Representative in Turkey stated that the Action Plan of the Strategy comprises 95 concrete measures, including legal and policy, technical, education and communication measures, addressing the issue at each stage of the food value chain and continued as follows:

“Among these, as many as 33 targeted actions were identified to be taken by local authorities and businesses to further improve food waste prevention, separation, and reuse. Adequate support and guidance from the Union of the Municipalities of Turkey would be crucial to deliver on the targets.”

Fatma Şahin, President of the Union of the Municipalities of Turkey said that fruits and vegetables made the majority of food wasted in the cities - nearly 50 percent, while the daily bread waste amounted to nearly 4.9 million loaves. “As municipalities are in the closest reach to the public, we are set to actively support the campaign and spread the message”, she added.

33 actions outlined in the Action Plan were introduced to the Union of the Municipalities of Turkey, said Bekir Pakdemirli, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey, emphasising the significant role of municipalities in the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste.

“We know that the municipalities have started addressing food waste at marketplaces and we expect them to introduce relevant compost and biogas facilities. We would be glad to increase the support for logistics and cold chain solutions to aid food donation in provinces and districts”, he added.

20 May 2020, Ankara, Turkey – FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey launched a joint national media campaign “Save Your Food” to raise public awareness about the detrimental impacts of food loss and waste, and to stimulate action along the food supply chain.

Curbing food loss and waste means revising institutional and legal frameworks, improving methods of food production, conservation and distribution, and changing resource-intensive consumption patterns.

To this end, the “Save Your Food” campaign in Turkey plans to widen consumer knowledge of the benefits of reducing food waste and encourage the development of waste prevention behaviours – so as to achieve profound and lasting changes in the way that people consume food. “Save Your Food” has also invited public and private partners to support the activities organized under the campaign. The engagement of other stakeholders, including the country’s largest producers and retailers, will be essential for the creation of an environment conducive for such behavioural change. [Read more]

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting governments, businesses, people and the economy, under severe pressure. While the focus of all actors is on protecting public health, the food supply chain is also impacted, and measures taken may, for some sectors, lead to increased food waste. Food banks and other charity organisations are also facing challenges as regards the availability of surplus food and/or volunteers.

The EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste prepared an overview of actions taken by its members in the different Member States of the EU to prevent food loss and waste in the context of this unprecedented crisis. 

Please find the compilation of good practices here.

28 January 2020, Moscow, Russia - “Preventing food waste, promoting circular economy” was the focus of a special session, co-organized by FAO and Messe Düsseldorf Moscow at the upakovka-2020 fair, one of the major trade shows in Russia for processing and packaging machines industry.

Increasing availability and affordability of different materials and products have simplified our lives and contributed to the rise in living standards and the quality of life in the developed countries. However, our culture of consumption has resulted in excessive resource extraction and growing pressures on natural capital and climate. We need to make sure that we can continue to grow our economy in a sustainable way and improve the living standards. This will require steps for changing the way we produce, transform, consume and distribute food by accelerating the transition to a sustainable food system based on circular economy principles. This will in turn not only cut waste, it will also reduce the need for new resources to be extracted at great financial and environmental cost.

The event was aimed to present the local and international cases and good practices in adopting the principles of circular economy. The speakers paid particular attention to the challenges and opportunities of this transition, and reflected on the capacity of business entities in Russia to capitalize on switching to a new, more sustainable model of production across the agri-food sector.

Shifting to the circular economy approach would “promote economic growth through closed-loop systems and new market opportunities and climate change mitigation as a result of efficient use of resources”, said Myriam Annette, FAO Food Loss and Waste consultant from the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia.

Other speakers included representatives from public sector, research institutions, companies and non-governmental organizations, all speaking about different aspects of circular economy. The highlights of the presentations are available here.  

20 December 2019 - Ankara, Turkey – FAO started the implementation of a technical assistance project Reduction of Food Loss and Waste in the SEC Countries within the framework of the second phase of FAO-Turkey Partnership Program on Food and Agriculture. 

Established in 2006, the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme (FTPP) focuses on achieving food security and combatting rural poverty in countries of the Caucasus and in the Central Asia sub-region through projects operated at the national, multi-country and sub-regional level. In 2014, Turkey and FAO commenced the second phase of partnership under which Turkey committed to contributing an additional $20 million. A range of projects under the Programme’s second phase will address the issues of food security and nutrition, agricultural and rural development, protection and management of natural resources, agricultural policies, and food safety.

Project “Reduction of Food Loss and Waste in the SEC Countries”, in particular, aims to assist recipient countries - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan - in developing national strategies and action plans for reducing food loss and waste, aligned with national policies and context and based on the "food waste management hierarchy". It will focus on implementing the key strategic actions of the food loss and waste reduction strategy, both at the policy and technical levels, and will target all subsectors of the food system, from farmers to consumers.

Additionally, various consumer-facing communication activities and targeted media campaign will be designed to create awareness and improve understanding of causes and impacts of food losses and waste and to drive behaviour change in individuals and communities. The public sector, as well as food business operators, will be mobilized through direct cooperation, including via a dedicated Community of Practice, and through specialised events.

Other projects ratified under the FTPP-II will focus on the capacity building for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture management and strengthening regional collaboration for management of wheat rust diseases and resistance breeding. 

11 December 2019, Skopje, North Macedonia - Results of the analysis of food losses and waste in selected food value chains in North Macedonia were presented at a workshop last week. The findings will directly support the formulation of a food loss and waste reduction action program.

The six-month in-depth field study on food losses and waste in fruit and vegetable value chains, including apples, plums, peaches, tomatoes, cabbages and peppers in North Macedonia, was conducted by the NGO Ajde Makedonija under the technical cooperation programme of FAO Office for Europe and Central Asia. The Programme is supporting the formulation of national strategies for food loss and waste reduction in Albania, Armenia, Moldova and North Macedonia.

For this detailed study, the research team was trained to use FAO's food loss analysis methodology comprising a screening stage (interviews with experts and review of the literature), field activities (surveying and sampling) and synthesis.

Based on the results of the field study, the research team made recommendations on the development of the level of competence and strengthening of value chains through incentives system; increased financial, infrastructural, and administrative support for cooperatives; capacity development and promotion of innovation. These recommendations informed the discussion by a working group of the key elements of a national strategy for the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste in North Macedonia.

As a next step, an analysis of the legislation and policies relating to food loss and waste will be carried out in order to identify whether the current framework favours or, on the contrary, prevents innovative action in the management of food loss and waste and whether adjustments are needed.

Using the data collected from field surveys and analysis of legislation and policies, a comprehensive strategic food loss and waste reduction program will be developed and policy and regulatory frameworks and processes will be strengthened.

28 Nov 2019, Izmir, Turkey - FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Republic of Turkey assembled the concluding workshop of the “Zero Waste Zero Hunger: Support to Awareness Raising on Food Loss and Waste” project (Project), which was implemented under the FAO’s SAVE FOOD Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction in Europe and Central Asia. Representatives from private sector, academia and business associations gathered in Izmir to discuss the recent developments with regard to the measurement and reduction of food loss and waste in Turkey.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Turkey prioritized the prevention and reduction of food losses and waste at national level as part of the food and nutrition security and climate change mitigation and in line with the 2030 Agenda. To this end, some targeted measures were undertaken, including the establishment of a G20 Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste, launch of a Bread Waste Campaign and implementation of a technical project “Zero Waste, Zero Hunger: Support to Awareness Raising on Food Loss and Waste” in 2019. The latter comprised a series of workshops that informed the drafting process of a National Strategy on Food Loss and Waste Reduction in Turkey.

In his opening speech, Sheikh Ahaduzzaman, Programme Officer FAO Turkey, emphasized that FAO had addressed the issue of food loss and waste as early as in 2011. “This year, in cooperation with the Ministry, we organized two workshops aimed to examine the scope of food loss and waste in Turkey. At this final workshop we will study the world’s best practices in food loss and waste measurement and consider the most efficient approaches to curbing the issue”, Ahaduzzaman added.

Ahmet Volkan Güngören, Deputy Director General for EU and Foreign Relations at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, said that a multi-disciplinary and multi-stake-holder approach was taken to design a national strategy and an action plan on food loss and waste reduction. He added, “Both, the strategic document and an action plan are expected to be presented under a forthcoming “SAVE YOUR FOOD” Campaign in 2020”.

Following the opening speeches, the workshop continued with the presentations of Camelia Bucatariu, International Consultant for FAO, and Erdoğan Güneş, Professor at the Ankara University and the Project National Consultant.

Bucatariu updated the workshop participants on the regional and global efforts on food losses measurement approaches and knowledge on prevention and reduction.

Erdoğan Güneş, professor of Ankara University concluded, “What we can measure, we will be able to manage”.

4 December 2019, Georgia - In Georgia, 8.9% of the population is severely affected by food insecurity. While governmental social programs are in place, many remain hungry. According to a 2016 report by Transparency International Georgia, providing a meal to every Tbilisi resident on a waiting list at a free kitchen would require a total of GEL 20 million (USD 6,7 million). Notably, charity organizations are required to buy most of the food they serve. At that, retailers, wholesalers and other food business operators record high amounts of unsold or discarded produce, which could potentially feed those in need and thereby contribute to enhancing food security.

While the Strategy for Agricultural Development in Georgia (2015-20) aims to eliminate rural poverty and improve food security through sustainable agricultural, more food could be made available for consumption by reducing food losses and waste.

FAO Office for Europe and Central Asia is supporting the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia in formulating a National Strategic Programme on Food Loss and Waste Reduction in line with existing relevant national strategies for the agricultural sector.

Further to assessing the extent and causes of food loss and waste in Georgia, FAO analysed the existing legal framework and provided targeted recommendations that include, in particular, introducing a simple and fast administrative procedure for the donation of surplus food and making amendments to legislation - one of the key barriers to developing food redistribution system in the country. The recommended regulatory changes – exempting food business operators from VAT on donations of food surpluses and revising existing food safety rules to facilitate the redistribution of food, based on EU best practices and guidelines.

Additionally, in view of the limited capacity and infrastructure to receive and distribute surplus food, FAO advocated for establishing a food bank and for that reason organized a visit of the European Federation of Food Banks to Georgia to present food-banking models and explore potential for collaboration.

Based on the FAO’s recommendations, the inter-ministerial task force group is holding a series of discussions on the roles and duties of all involved institutions; an action plan will be developed to undertake the necessary steps to commence the establishment of the redistribution system.

Food Loss and Waste Team of the Regional FAO Office for Europe and Central Asia compiled a practical guide for the establishment of effective and sustainable food recovery and redistribution systems.

Today, large quantities of foods still fit for human consumption are discarded by businesses in the food sector due to packaging or quality issues, excess supply, consumption habits, etc. In many countries, donation of excess food to charitable organizations by food business operators is limited because of legal and other hurdles, including tax barriers, liability and date marking issues. An enabling regulatory and policy environment plays a very important role in supporting and implementing food recovery and redistribution operations from food business operators to food insecure people.

This guide was prepared in response to the growing demand in the region to support the development of policies and legislation promoting food redistribution as part of the countries’ national strategies for food loss and waste reduction. To this end, the document offers guiding principles and recommendations to policy-makers regarding implementation of a favourable regulatory and legal framework that facilitates food recovery and redistribution activities in their countries.

The recommendations are supported by examples of policy measures and legislative adjustments introduced in different countries, in particular in the European Union.

The document was shared with the relevant ministerial divisions and other stakeholders in the FAO target countries in Europe and Central Asia for consideration, discussion and identification of the most appropriate models for a food recovery and redistribution system, based on their specific needs and context.

FAO’s SAVE FOOD Initiative in Europe and Central Asia, and the International Food Waste Coalition will partner with Too Good To Go’s Movement against food waste to raise awareness of the consequences of wasting food and encourage more children and young people to value resources and thereby protect our planet.

Consumer behaviour is arguably one of the leading, albeit underlying, drivers of food waste in developed regions such as Europe, and steps to shift social norms and consumer attitudes are important. The education of future generation of consumers plays a critical role in this.

In line with its goal to inspire 500 schools all across Europe and using its experience of promoting and managing International education programmes, Too Good To Go will begin connecting schools and authorities to the “Do Good: Save Food!” series of teaching manuals, developed the FAO and the International Food Waste Coalition to influence and change the behaviour of school-age children and, through them, their families. The programme will launch in 2020, initially with a focus on the UK, France and Belgium.

Mette Lykke, CEO Too Good To Go: “At Too Good To Go we are committed to inspiring change at all levels, from consumers and businesses to students and politicians. Making the next generation aware of how food waste impacts climate change, and equipping them with the tools they need to fight it, is vital in securing the future we want for them. The 'Do Good: Save Food' initiative takes an engaging approach to education on food waste, encouraging behavioural change, and advising on concrete changes in ways that will resonate with all age ranges.”

Robert van Otterdijk, Agro-Industry Officer, FAO in Europe and Central Asia; Leader of the regional SAVE FOOD Initiative commented: “In the medium- and high-income countries, the efforts to reduce food waste at the producer and retail levels would be undermined if consumer education is not in place. Thus, teaching children – the consumers of tomorrow – about actions they can take and good habits that they can develop to reduce food waste will bring about the behavior change required to stem the problem now and in the future. Together with the International Food Waste Coalition we developed the “Do Good: Save Food! Materials to educate and, most importantly, empower young people to act differently.”

The education package was tested in 18 schools in France, Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom for two academic years during 2015 – 2017.

Thomas Candeal from the International Food Waste Coalition, who led and coordinated a testing of the programme, said that based on the pilot phase results, an education campaign may prompt a minimum of 15 per cent reduction in food waste. He added that engaging other actors of the school food value chain - food producers and suppliers, school kitchens and canteens, school management and municipalities - would further enhance the impact.

16 October 2019, Budapest, Hungary – Trucks loaded with 50 tonnes of food donations crossed the central Budapest on the occasion of the World Food Day. While helping Hungarian families in need, this join action of FAO and the Hungarian Foodbank Association aimed to call attention to the issue of food waste and the importance of healthy diets.

“Achieving Zero Hunger is not only about nourishing people, but also nurturing the planet. This year, World Food Day calls for action across sectors to make healthy and sustainable diets affordable and accessible to everyone,” said Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative. He added that “reducing food loss and waste would contribute to achieving other important sustainable development targets, especially the ones relating to food security and environmental sustainability.”

The President of the Foodbank Association, Balazs Cseh, said: “The Foodbank wants to stress that we can only tackle food waste with authorities, private sector and civil society working closely together.”

Altogether, 20 Hungarian and international food processors and retail companies, all partners of the Association, joined the convoy. Throughout the year, these companies donate surplus produce to the Foodbank for distribution among food insecure people.

26 September 2019, Budapest, Hungary – Food loss and waste in a processing sector was at the focus of the conference organized by NAIK Research Institute of Agricultural Economics.

Robert van Otterdijk, Agro-Industry Officer at FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia and the Leader of the FAO-Messe Düsseldorf SAVE FOOD Initiative in the region, in his opening presentation, provided a global perspective on the issue. Van Otterdijk said that food loss during processing usually occurred due to an unintentional good damage or process interruptions. While over-production resulting from pressure to meet contractual requirements, in combination with cheap disposal alternatives lead to food waste.

Speaking about measures to reduce food loss and waste, Robert van Otterdijk noted: “In industrialized countries, solutions at the producer and industrial levels would only be marginal if consumer education and appropriate stock management at retail level is not in place. Moreover, government investment and policy support to facilitate market access for farmers and to provide an enabling environment for private sector investment are critical factors to significantly reduce food loss and waste.” 

Dr. Gyöngyi Kúrthy from NAIK Research Institute of Agricultural Economics presented results of the Institute’s research on causes, measurement and solutions to food loss and waste in a processing sector in Hungary. According to the research findings, food loss and waste is commonly perceived by companies as unavoidable during a technological process. At that, the research revealed that those processors who monitored and assessed the amount and value of losses were more cautious about the problem.

Among the obstacles to preventing and reducing food loss and waste, processors highlighted regulatory issues, market deficiency for by-products, lack of adequate chain-based cooperation between the actors and insufficient incentive to reduce losses. Surprisingly, more than half of the respondents considered mandatory requirements as an effective tool to tackling food loss and waste.

Considering the heavy reliance of food processors on policy-makers, Gyöngyi Kúrthy concluded that a significant reduction or improved utilisation of food loss and waste could be only achieved through a change of the regulation.

August 2019, Albania - The “Do Good: Save Food!” package of education materials, developed jointly by FAO and IFWC, will be translated into Albanian language and used during the school year 2019 – 2020 to educate children in 100 primary and middle schools on the importance of preventing and reducing food waste.

This extensive educational effort will be undertaken by the Food Bank Albania, with which FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia developed strong collaboration during the still ongoing implementation of the SAVE FOOD Programme on Food Loss and Waste Reduction in the region, including in the Republic of Albania.

Food Bank Albania is a committed player in the local food system, with its mandate extending beyond food recovery and redistribution to public outreach and advocacy for food waste prevention and reduction through changes in legislation and enhancing understanding of the causes and impact of food loss and waste.

As in other countries in the region, food loss and waste in Albania have major implications on food nutrition and security; the problem also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and thereby has the negative effects of climate change. FAO is now working with four southeastern European countries to develop strategies for food loss and waste reduction.

19 - 23 July, 2019, North Macedonia - As part of the implementation of FAO’s SAVE FOOD Programme on Food Loss and Waste Reduction in Europe and Central Asia, FAO Regional Office trained NGO Ajde Makedonija in the Republic of North Macedonia on a proprietary Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool for Value Chains (EX-ACT VC) used to assess the economic and environmental performance of food value chains.

FAO Regional Office in Europe and Central Asia works together with NGO Ajde Makedonija on an analytical research on food loss and waste in the most important value chains in North Macedonia, for which the FAO Food Loss Analysis: Causes and Solutions method is used. The research will identify the main causes of food losses in the selected value chains and analyze the impact of solutions to reduce food losses on their technical and economic feasibility, food quality and safety requirements, social acceptability and environmental sustainability. The application of the EX-ACT VC tool will strengthen the research methodology, with a more comprehensive evaluation of environmental and socio-economic aspects of food losses.

The research results will directly support the formulation and implementation of a food loss and waste reduction programme in the North Macedonia.

About EX-ACT VC:

EX-ACT VC is a multi-agent based tool appraising input supply, production, transport, processing and using numerous indicators. Being multi-impact designed, it gives performance on GHG emissions, economic return of climate mitigation, climate resilience, socio-economic performances and other environment indicators, like water and, energy use. The tool can be used either for the current situation of the chain, or for an upgrading project scenario. More on EX-ACT VC.