Food Loss And Food Waste Reduction And Recovery Initiative of the Faculty of Agriculture University of Mauritius

The Faculty of Agriculture (FoA) of the University of Mauritius is leading the “Food Loss and Waste Reduction and Recovery” Initiative (hereafter referred to as FLoWeR Initiative) scheduled over one year (February 2018 to March 2019) with the aim of creating national awareness on food loss and food waste reduction and recovery among all stakeholders along the agri-food value chain. This initiative is in line with the Target 12.3 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is “ halving per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and supply chains” by 2030. 

A dedicated website (http://sites.uom.ac.mu/foodloss/) has been developed to inform about the Initiative and the activities that are being organized. This website has been operational since February 2018 and will be regularly updated through March. All the documents related to the Forum and the conference have been posted. A useful list of resources has been posted on the page; additional relevant documents will be added in due course.

Ms Daya Goburdhun, Associate Professor, coordinated a series of initiatives as reported hereunder.

A Conference on food loss and food waste reduction and recovery was held from 27th February to 1st March 2018 . The chief guest for the opening ceremony scheduled on the 27th February was the Honourable Mahen Kumar Seeruttun, Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security (MAIFS). The Initiative was officially launched by the Chancellor of the University of Mauritius, Dr Jean Claude Autrey. The keynote speaker Dr. Mireille Totobesola-Barbier, Project Manager of the FAO/ IFAD/ WFP joint ‘Mainstreaming food loss reduction initiatives for smallholders in food deficit areas’ project, addressed the audience on The global effort on food loss and waste reduction. This conference also saw the participation of Mr Vijay Yadav Tokala, Member of the Board of Directors of the Postharvest Education Foundation (PEF), USA; Professor Elna Buys, Head of the Department of Consumer and Food Sciences, University of Pretoria, and eight local speakers. During the first two days, various facets of food loss and food waste were uncovered such as current international initiatives, opportunities for capacity building, local and international research projects, and food loss and waste related activities in Mauritius. Eighty four participants from all the sectors of the agri-food value chain participated and shared their concern, their involvement in food reduction and recovery and their expectations.

The last day of the conference was the EXPERT WORKING SESSION which was held on the 1st March 2018. Thirty eight participants from the different sectors of the agri-food value chain brainstormed on different aspects: (i) sources of food loss and waste at the level of all actors in the agri-food value chain in Mauritius, (ii) activities/actions required to reduce food loss and waste at the level of all the actors in the agri-food value chain in Mauritius and (iii) major projects to reduce food loss and waste at level of all actors in the agri-food value chain in Mauritius.

More information can be found in the following Report. 

Mireille Totobesola was interviewed by the National TV (link)