FAO resources on food loss and waste

29/09/2022

An estimated 3.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to a healthy diet and some 828 million people go hungry. All of this means there is an urgent need to accelerate action to reduce food loss and waste.

Ahead of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (29 September), have a look at a selection of FAO titles exploring the linkages between food loss and waste and food security, and suggesting ways to address the situation while improving nutrition and environmental sustainability.

Voluntary code of conduct for food loss and waste reduction

This document sets out a generic framework of actions and guiding principles that should be followed to reduce food loss and waste (FLW) and support the transformation of agrifood systems. 

Gender and food loss in sustainable fish value chains in Africa

This paper describes the key components of a gender-sensitive food loss value chain analysis, which include identifying the actors involved; identifying constraints that affect women’s and men’s participation; and developing gender-sensitive fish loss reduction interventions.

FAO Regional Strategy on Food Loss and Waste Reduction in Asia and the Pacific

The strategy builds upon five key pillars, consisting of raising awareness; identifying food loss and waste critical points along supply chains; enabling investments; monitoring progress towards SDG indicator 12.3.1; and implementing coherent governance frameworks.

Reducing food loss and waste: Five challenges for policy and research
Despite broad agreement in policy circles on the need to reduce food loss and waste (FLW), considerable gaps in information still exist. This paper identifies policy-relevant information gaps; summarizes recent research that tries to fill these gaps; and identifies five challenges for researchers, policy makers and practitioners in reducing food loss and waste.

Food loss and waste and the right to adequate food: Making the connection
This publication focuses on the need to develop sustainable global consumption and production systems to help realize the right to adequate food, while arguing for a human-rights-based approach to tackle food loss and waste. 

Additional resources

Publications

• Get Involved - International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste
• Food losses and waste in the context of sustainable food systems − A report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition
• Do good save food school-kit
• Mitigating risks to food systems during COVID-19: Reducing food loss and waste
• Gender and food loss in sustainable food value chains: A guiding note

Websites 

• Technical platform on the measurement and reduction of food loss and waste
• Community of Practice on food loss and waste reduction

E-learning courses

• E-learning food loss analysis
• E-learning: Food loss and waste in fish value chains
• E-learning course on SDG Sub-Indicator 12.3.1.a
• Using FAO methodology to compute damage and loss
• Introduction to FAO’s damage and loss assessment methodology