27 December 2018, Rome - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has identified Food loss and waste and the right to adequate food among the publications of the Organization that need to be read.

Launched in 2018, this study makes the connection between food loss and waste (FLW) and the human right to adequate food. It focuses on the need to develop sustainable global consumption and production systems.

The discussion paper presents key notions of FLW and expands on their impact for the realization of the right to adequate food. Simultaneously, it looks into the different components of the right to adequate food and offers ways through which its legal obligations could help processes and initiatives aimed at reducing FLW. It also argues for a more holistic approach to reducing FLW and guaranteeing the right of each person to feed herself or himself in dignity.    

The preparation of this report was possible thanks to the financial support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

FLW challenge and connection to Right to Food

The issue of FLW has initiated an international debate on the global food system. As such, discussions ought to tackle the root causes of the issue: not only should the unsustainability of food systems be addressed, but also the relationship between resource-intensive consumption patterns and current global food production and supply systems.

The realization of the right to adequate food can be affected by problems in production, preservation or distribution, amongst others, while FLW represent a specific manifestation of such factors. Hence, pertinent institutional and legal frameworks should be revised.