Shallot transport in Brebes after the harvest, at risk of being wasted (FAO/Harriansyah)

Food loss and waste in Indonesia reached 115-184 kg per capita per year with the biggest waste occurs at the consumption stage during the last two decades, as per the Report from Bappenas in 2021. This covers food loss from production to wholesale and food waste from retail to households. The biggest generation loss has been found in crops, particularly cereals. Meanwhile, the most inefficient food sector and category is fruit and vegetables.

The economic loss due to the food loss and waste in Indonesia is approximately IDR 213-551 trillion per year or equals to -5% of Indonesia's GDP. In the Asia Pacific region, almost half of fruits and vegetables are wasted or lost even before they reach to the consumers.

“It is very important to understand the bottlenecks and pay-offs in the value chain in reducing food loss, especially for the selected perishable commodities, such as fruits and vegetables,“ said Rajendra Aryal FAO Representative in Indonesia and Timor Leste at the inception workshop of n a food loss study in Jakarta.

Food loss results from wide-ranging managerial and technical limitations in harvesting techniques, storage, transportation, processing, cooling facilities, infrastructure, packaging and marketing systems One of the main sectors of concern in agricultural sectors is small- and medium-scale agricultural production and processing.

“Fruits and vegetables are the nutritious commodities that are lost and wasted the most. We need to work together with various stakeholders to improve the situation and reduce food loss (and waste) in Indonesia”, said Retno Sri Hartati Mulyandari, Secretary of Directorate General of Horticulture, Ministry of Agriculture..

FAO will provide the technical assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture to explore the bottlenecks and pay-offs in reducing food loss in selected perishable horticulture commodities. The study will focus for three selected commodities, namely Chili in Banyuwangi, East Java, Shallots in Brebes, Central Java, and Cabbage in Cianjur, West Java. The study, to be carried out from September 2022 till January 2023 aims at generating a better understanding of the critical loss points and solutions to address them for cabbage, shallot, and chilli - from production up to wholesale market.