Food waste

Food availability for the most vulnerable; reduced greenhouse gas emissions; less pressure on land and water resources;are some of the benefits from reduced food waste. © Petrr/ Flickr

Platform on reducing food loss and waste

Reducing food loss and waste is essential for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A new online platform gives support to development actors and governments in reducing food loss and waste across the globe.

A new online platform aiming to help the global community step up action to reduce food loss and waste was unveiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in late July 2020.

The Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste brings together information on measurement, reduction, policies, alliances, actions and examples of successful models applied to reduce food loss and waste across the globe.

The platform is a gateway to all FAO food-loss and waste resources, including: the online collection of data on what food is lost and wasted and where; discussion forum on food-loss reduction; examples of successful initiatives; e-learning courses; food-loss and waste policy brief in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic; and tips on what everyone can do to reduce food waste.

It also connects to related portals from development partners, serving as a one-stop shop for all food-loss and waste knowledge.

The benefits of reducing food loss and waste


Reducing food loss and waste can bring about many benefits: more food available for the most vulnerable; reduced greenhouse gas emissions; less pressure on land and water resources; and increased productivity and economic growth.  

Fixing the negative cycle of food loss and waste would bring the world closer to the 2015 Paris-agreement target of limiting global heating to below 2 °C. For example, cutting food loss by 25 per cent would offset environmental damage caused by future land use for farming. It means not having to destroy more forests, with devastating consequences for climate change and biodiversity, to produce more food.

Technological innovations can also tackle undesirable environmental impacts while saving food. In Kenya and Tanzania, for example, solar-powered cooling technology for chilling milk - through a project supported by FAO and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) - helped prevent milk losses without creating any additional greenhouse-gas emissions. The same technology saves three million litres of water per year in Tunisia.

(FAO/ile)

Read more at FAO website

Visit The Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste

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