Gist of Report

Reducing Food Loss

and Waste
Report by UNEP

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Reducing Food Loss

and Waste
Report by UNEP

UPSC Exam is all about proper strategy, dedication and consistent endeavor in the
right direction with authentic and reliable study material. Government and renowned
international reports form a very important source for grasping the conceptual clarity
of contemporary national and international issues/topics. However, it is a daunting task
to comprehend a report that runs through hundreds of pages. It becomes difficult for
the students in time crunch situations particularly during UPSC Mains Examinations.
In order to ease the burden over aspirants, GSSCORE has come up with a series of
summary of important national and international reports in a crisp and comprehensive
manner. Underlining the importance of reports and indexes for PT and Mains,
GSSCORE provides a comprehensive summary of important reports of national and
international repute. The summary of the report by GSSCORE would save the time and
energy of the UPSC aspirants and enable them to quickly cover the syllabus.
!! The following summary of the report titled Report – Reducing Food Loss and Waste
by UNEP is in one among the series of summaries created by GSSCORE on various
reports.

!! The report gives us a brief idea on How “Reducing Food Loss and Waste” Performs
Against the Sustainable Food Future Criteria, The World Resources Report, Food loss
and waste can occur at each stage of the food value chain, Possible Approaches to
save the food, The Role of Women in Reducing Food Loss and Waste, Case Study:
SecondBite (Australia), Some Leading Food Loss and Waste Reduction Initiatives,
Conclusion.

!! Reports are important topic both for UPSC Preliminary as well as Mains. So going
through the GSSCORE summary of the report becomes imperative for UPSC aspirants.
Students can download the gist of this report from the Free Resources section of
GSSCORE website: https://iasscore.in/free-study-material-downloads

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Reducing Food Loss and Waste

Summary
 A new report by the World Resources Institute (WRI) with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation has
quantified global food wastage nearly one-third of the food that is produced each year goes uneaten,
costing the global economy over $940 billion.

 T
he Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 32 percent of all food
produced in the world was lost or wasted in 2009.

 T
his estimate is based on weight. When converted into calories, global food loss and waste amounts to
approximately 24 percent of all food produced. Essentially, one out of every four food calories intended for
people is not ultimately consumed by them.

 F ood loss and waste have many negative economic and environmental impacts. Economically, they represent
a wasted investment that can reduce farmers’ incomes and increase consumers’ expenses. Environmentally,
food loss and waste inflict a host of impacts, including unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and
inefficiently used water and land, which in turn can lead to diminished natural ecosystems and the services
they provide.

 I t is estimated that saving one-fourth of the food currently lost or wasted globally would be enough to feed
870 million hungry people in the world, of which the highest number are in India.

Some Recommendations
 To further galvanize commitment to reducing food loss and waste, several cross-cutting strategies are
needed.

 T
hese strategies will require action from multilateral and bilateral donors, intergovernmental agencies,
national governments, and the private sector, among others.

!! Develop a food loss and waste measurement protocol

!! Set food loss and waste reduction targets

!! Increase investment in reducing postharvest losses in developing countries

!! Create entities devoted to reducing food waste in developed countries

!! Accelerate and support collaborative initiatives to reduce food loss and waste

Meaning
 “Food loss and waste” refers to the edible parts of plants and animals that are produced or harvested for
human consumption but that are not ultimately consumed by people.

 “ Food loss” refers to food that spills, spoils, incurs an abnormal reduction in quality such as bruising or
wilting, or otherwise gets lost before it reaches the consumer.

 F ood loss is the unintended result of an agricultural process or technical limitation in storage, infrastructure,
packaging, or marketing.

 “ Food waste” refers to food that is of good quality and fit for human consumption but that does not get
consumed because it is discarded—either before or after it spoils. Food waste is the result of negligence or
a conscious decision to throw food away.

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How “Reducing Food Loss and Waste” Performs Against the Sustainable
Food Future Criteria

Criteria Definition Performance Comment

Poverty Reduces poverty  Reducing postharvest losses can increase

Alleviation and advances rural the amount of food available to farmers
development, while still for their owen consumption or for sale
being cost effective to market
 Reducing postharvest losses can reduce
the likelihood that small-holders become
net food buyers
 Reducing losses in the value chain lowers
expenditures of processors and retailers
per unit of good grown or harvested
 Reducing food waste can lower household
expenditures per unit of food consumed
 Reducing quality losses can better
maintain nutritional value of food

Gender Generated benefits for  Reducing food losses increases the return
women on investment of time spent farming and
could reduce the total time needed to
work in fields
 Reducing food waste could reduce total
houselhold expenditures on food, freeing
up resources for health, education, and
other household benefits

Eco-systems Avoids agriculture  Better utilizing food already grown

expansion into remaining reduces the need to convert more
natural terrestrial ecosystems into food production or to
ecosystems and relieves harvest more wild food (e.g, fish)
pressure on overstrained
fisheries

Climate Helps reduce greenhouse  Better utilizing food already grown

gas emissions from reduces the need to convert more
agriculture to levels land, apply more fertilizers, raise more
consistent with stabilizing livestock, and use energy for producing,
the climate processing, transporting, and storing
food.
 Diverting food loss and waste from
landfills prevents methane emissions
from rotting food

Water Does not deplete or  Better utilizing food already grown

pollute aquifers or surface reduces the need to withdraw more water
waters from aquifers or add more agricultural
chemicals that may pollute water bodies.

The World Resources Report

 The world’s agricultural system faces a great balancing act among three needs. By mid-century, it needs to
simultaneously close a gap of more than 60 percent between food available now and food required in 2050,
help advance economic and social development, and reduce agriculture’s impact on the environment.

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Reducing Food Loss and Waste

 This balancing act poses one of the paramount questions of the next 40 years: How can the world adequately
feed more than 9 billion people by 2050 in a manner that advances social and economic development while
reducing pressure on ecosystems, climate, and water resources?

Food loss and waste can occur at each stage of the food value chain

 During production or harvest in the form of grain left behind by poor harvesting equipment, discarded fish,
and fruit not harvested or discarded because they fail to meet quality standards or are uneconomical to
harvest.

 During handling and storage in the form of food degraded by pests, fungus, and disease.

 During processing and packaging in the form of spilled milk, damaged fish, and fruit unsuitable for
processing. Processed foods may be lost or wasted because of poor order forecasting and inefficient factory
processes.

 During distribution and marketing in the form of edible food discarded because it is non-compliant with
aesthetic quality standards or is not sold before “best before” and “use-by” dates.

 During consumption in the form of food purchased by consumers, restaurants, and caterers but not eaten.

Food Loss and Waste along the Value Chain

Definition

During or After produce During industrial During distribution Losses in the home
immediately leaves the farm for or domestic to markets, including or business of the
after harvesting handling, storage, processing and/or losses at wholesale consumer, including
on ther farm and transport packaging and retails markets restaurants/caterers

INCLUDES

Fruits bruised Edible food eaten Milk spilled during Edible produce Edible products
during picking by pests pasteurization sorted out due to sorted out due to
or threshing and processing quality quality
(e.g. cheese)

Crops sorted Edible produce Edible fruit or Edible products Food purchased but
out postharvest degraded by fungus grains sorted out expired before being not eaten
for not or disease as not suitable for purchased
meeting quality processing
standards

Crops left Livestock death Livestock Edible products Food cooked but not
behind in fields during transport trimming during spilled or damages in eaten
due to poor to slaughter or slaghtering market
mechanical not accepted for and industrial
harvesting or slaughter processing
sharp drops in
prices

Fish discarded Fish that are spilled Fish spilled or

during fishing or degraded after damaged during
operations landing canning/smoking

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Possible Approaches to save the food

 F
ood redistribution: Food redistribution or donation programs are a method for reducing both food loss
and waste. As used here, “food redistribution” means voluntarily giving away food that otherwise would be
lost or wasted to recipients such as food banks, which then redistribute the food to those who need it.

 Evaporative coolers: Evaporative coolers extend the shelf life of food and avoid spoilage by keeping food
at lower-than-room temperatures without having to use electricity. This lowcost, low-energy technique
provides an opportunity to store perishable foods longer in areas that lack electricity infrastructure or that
has low-income farmers.

 P
lastic storage bags: Damage from pests is a major source of food loss during the handling and storage
phase of the supply chain. Take cowpeas for instance. The crop is important for many smallholder farmers
due to the cowpeas’ ability to adapt to dry, hot conditions.

 S
mall metal silos: Small metal silos, which are intended for use by one farmer or by one household and
generally hold between 250–1000 kg of crops, can be an effective strategy for reducing food loss at the
storage stage, especially for cereals and pulses. Insufficient storage is a major source of food loss for farmers,
especially in developing countries, where storage structures often do not keep harvested crops in hermetic
or airtight conditions.

 P
lastic crates: Using plastic crates instead of other forms of containerization has demonstrated significant
reductions in food losses during handling and storage, particularly among fruits, vegetables, and other forms
of fresh produce. In developing countries, 19 percent of fruit and vegetable loss occurs in the handling and
storage stage of the food value chain.

 F
ood date labeling: Dates provided on the packaging of food and drinks, such as “use-by,”“sell-by,” and
“best before,” is intended to provide consumers with information regarding the freshness and safety of
foods. However, these seemingly simple dates can actually confuse consumers about how long it is safe for
them to store food and when they should dispose of uneaten items.

 Consumer awareness campaigns: Consumer attitudes and behavior play a large role in determining the
amount of food that is wasted in households. Although changing the way people consume and throw out
food can be difficult, communication campaigns can help influence consumer behavior at the household
level.

 Reduced portion sizes: For restaurants and other food service providers, food portion sizes can dictate the
amount of food waste that occurs within the four walls of their business, since larger portions increase the
likelihood that a consumer will not consume all of the food purchased. Reducing portion sizes for consumers
in both direct and indirect ways can both decrease food waste and save money for food providers.

The Role of Women in Reducing Food Loss and Waste

 Women in both developing and developed countries have an important role to play in reducing food loss
and waste, since women interact with food at each stage of the value chain from farm to fork.

 C
lose to the farm, women comprise 41 percent of the agricultural workforce worldwide and make up the
majority of agricultural workers in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

 C
lose to the fork, surveys in a wide range of countries show that women are responsible for 85-90 percent
of the time spent on household food preparation. Therefore, targeting women in food loss and food waste
reduction campaigns could result in greater reductions than pursuing an unfocused campaign.

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Reducing Food Loss and Waste

 One such gender-targeted initiative in Tanzania focused on providing female farmers with greater access to
markets and supplied participants with access to solar drying technology that allowed for surplus fruits that
might other be lost to be dried and preserved.

 Another campaign in Australia called “1 Million Women” encourages women to take action on a number of
environmental issues, including reducing food waste. The campaign has hosted events with a celebrity chef
to raise awareness of food waste, and its official website provides tips on how to reduce waste and recipes
for how to efficiently use food.

Case Study: SecondBite (Australia)

 In Australia, the nonprofit organization SecondBite facilitates food donation by linking farmers and retailers
with community groups and food banks.

 SecondBite effectively functions as a broker, first collecting food from donors and then distributing it among
community groups that are already aware of where hunger and malnutrition are most prevalent.

 In this way, SecondBite draws upon existing knowledge and expertise of other organizations to further its
mission.

 SecondBite also works with state governments in Australia to introduce Good Samaritan Acts to promote
food donation.

 In 2012, SecondBite rescued and redirected 3,000 metric tons of fresh food that otherwise would have been
lost or wasted.

Some Leading Food Loss and Waste Reduction Initiatives

INITIATIVE OR
GEOGRAPHY DESCRIPTION
ORGANISATION

SAVE FOOD Global SAVE FOOD, a global initiative on food loss and waste reduction,
is led by FAO and Messe Dusseldorf, a leading trade fair organizer.
Since 2011, it has worked with donors, development agencies,
financial institutions and the private sector (particularly the
food packaging industry) to develop and implement a program
to reduce food loss and waste. The program rests on four
pilllars; 1) awareness raising: 2) collaboration with like-minded
initiatives; 3) policy, strategy, and program development; and 4)
support to food supply chain actors and organizations involved
in food loss and waste reduction. For more information, visit
http://www.save-food.org and http://www.fao.org/save-food.

Think.Eat.Save Global Think.Eat.Save is a campaign of the SAVE FOOD initiative led

campaign by UNEP, FAO, and Messe Duseldorf. The campaign seeks to
galvanize widespread global, regional, and national actions
to reduce food waste, and specifically targets food wasted by
consumers, retailers, and the hospitality industry. The Think.Eat.
Save website is portal showcasing inspiring ideas and solutions,
and a one-stop shop for news and resources on reducing food
waste. For more information, visit http://wwwthinkeatsave.org.

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Global Global The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) is a global nonprofit

FoodBanking organization committed to creating, supplying, and
Network strengthening food banks and food bank networks throughout
the world outside the United States. GFN supports food banks
and national food food banks networks in more than 25
countries that are home to more than one-third of the world’s
undernourished people. Food banks acquire donated food,
much of which would otherwise be wasted, and make it available
to those in need through a network of community agencies that
provide good to the hungry. For more information, visit http://
www.foodbanking.org.

OECD Food Chain Global The OECD Food Chain Analysis Network provides a broad
Analysis Network platform for dialogue building on analytical work and policy
experiences on emerging issues of relevance to the good chain.
It consists of government officials, international organizations,
industry stakeholders, consumers, academic experts, and non-
governmental organizations. The Network’s 4th annual meeting
(June, 2013) will be dedicated to the issue of reducing food
waste along the supply chain. The meeting will help improve
data and policy information on food waste, allow exchange of
analysis and best practices, and identify appropriate policy and
industry responses to food waste. For more information, visit,
http://www.oecd.org/site/agrfcn.

FUSIONS Regional FUSIONS (Food Use for Social Innovation by Optimising Waste
Prevention Strategies) aims to reduce food waste in Europe,
It is a four-year project running from 2012 to 2016, funded by
the European Commission. FUSSIONS has 21 project partners
from 13 Countries, including universities, research institutes,
consumer organizations, and businesses. FUSIONS aims to
support the European Commision target of a 50 percent
reduction in food waste and the Roadmap toward a Resource
Efficient Europe. For more information, visit http://www.eu-
fusions.org.

Conclusion
 An amazing 24 percent of all food calories grown today are lost or wasted between the farm and the fork.

 T
his fact is ultimately a failure of economic and natural resource efficiency. The world faced an analogous
failure of efficiency in the 1970s with energy.

 I n the face of record oil prices and growing demand, the world essentially declared war on energy wastefulness
and significantly improved its energy efficiency.

 Y
et a “war on waste” has yet to be waged when it comes to food. Given that food prices recently hit historic
highs and global food demand continues to rise, now is the time.

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