4th International Day Of Awareness Of Food Loss And Waste “Reduce Food Loss and Waste: taking action to transform agrifood systems” - Opening Remarks

4^th INTERNATIONAL DAY OF AWARENESS OF FOOD LOSS AND WASTE

“Reduce Food Loss and Waste: taking action to transform agrifood systems”

Opening Remarks

By

Dr Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-General

 

29 September 2023

 

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

 

Welcome to this year’s International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, with the theme “Reducing food loss and waste: taking action to transform agrifood systems”.

 

Our agrifood systems today apply a linear: “take-make-use-discard” operation model that needs to be urgently changed!

 

Global agrifood systems must be transformed to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable, to ensure food security and accessible healthy diets for all.

 

Currently, more than 13% of food produced globally is lost throughout the supply chain from harvest to before retail, and a further 17% is wasted at household level, in food services, and in retail.

 

735 million people faced hunger in 2022, and many millions of people across the world are malnourished.

 

The world is off course to achieve most of the globally agreed nutrition targets.

 

Healthy diets are an essential part of addressing this issue, yet more than 3.1 billion people were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2021.

 

Reducing food loss and waste represents a triple win opportunity with immediate positive impact on food security, climate benefits, and increased availability of nutritious food, while improving the overall sustainability of agrifood systems.

 

Reducing food loss and waste will minimize pressure on our natural resources, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate climate change, and help to preserve our biodiversity.

 

It is a win-win for people and for the planet.

 

I keep repeating these points, but there is not enough change as we expect. Most people do not understand the root causes or impact, nor the real action entry point.

 

We need to all realize that small actions lead to big change, big impact.

 

So what is the first thing that we should change for food loss and waste?

 

Food loss on the field; food waste on the table.

 

How do we speed up the process to reduce the loss and the waste on the table and in the field?

 

We need to find a logical entry point to lead the change by key partners.

 

We have to change in an innovative way – we have to start changing in small ways.

 

Four years ago, I put a reminder sign in the FAO cafeteria: if you have not reached zero waste, it will be reminded. This small action made everyone more cautious.

 

We have to think deeper - not do business in the usual way.

 

To unlock the potential and maximize the value of our agrifood systems, we must shift from our current linear model of operation.

 

How can we encourage and help people to change the business model?

 

First: prevent and reduce food loss and waste at source - in production, handling, processing and packaging. What is the package of solutions we can offer?

 

Second: rescue, recover and redistribute the surplus.  There are a lot of good examples and fresh experiences from the field operation, from our country offices, and from other organizations that we can share. At Headquarters we can learn a lot from them.

 

And Third: recycle and upcycle.

 

For this reason, today we are launching the Food Loss App – it is a small step, but I really appreciate it.

 

Last year, when I was in Austria. I visited some companies that before the expiration date of food, they donate or process it. There are a lot of actions that we can learn from.

 

So what is the role of FAO here, together with UNEP? We need partnerships to work on mapping food waste hotspots, not only in Europe, USA, but also in big cities in the Near East, Africa and Asia.  If some cities are willing to be mapped, we would see, for example, how much is wasted during feasts and celebrations.

 

As I mentioned, today is the Mooncake Mid-Autumn festival in the Chinese culture. Ten years ago, we were really concerned about the waste of the mooncake, which was not all eaten in one day or one week. So how to reduce the mooncake waste? It was a big issue, and it took a lot of political engagement, social movement and advocacy to promote how to reduce the waste, not only for this feast but also for other celebrations.

 

This week we held two global conferences on Sustainable Livestock Transformation, and on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization. Food loss in the fields depends on the machinery and how to collect or recollect – second collection – of the harvest, especially staple food such as rice, wheat. Therefore, we must design specific guidelines and small actions to work together with Members.

 

Last, but not least, how do we raise public awareness?

 

Public awareness is not repeating the same thing: how important, how scarce, how impactful. No. Public awareness is through economic gain and relevance. If for example we need to save 74kg per capita globally, we can provide a bonus or an incentive of USD 1 per kilo reduced. To do this, we could sign an MoU with a private bank such as Rabobank or other financial institutions, or the private sector, willing to take on the social responsibility.

 

If I can reduce only 30kg of waste per year per capita, then I get a 44kg quota and I can retain USD 44, which in turn could be donated to a fund for the environment or for children’s nutrition improvement or even school meals program.

 

So, please let’s think together. Let’s jump out of the box - otherwise every year we will be repeating the same numbers!

 

Let us walk the talk. Think a little bit deeper, with a concrete proposal and action plan.

 

Thank you.