The challenge
It is estimated that 40% of the world’s global food supply is lost or wasted, which is an increase of 10% from previous estimates. This huge level of inefficiency has significant impacts. Consider food security. Food loss is most common during either production or post-harvest handling and storage. This can affect the ability of farmers to live above the poverty line and, at times, feed their families. Food waste, which occurs near the end of the food supply chain, can affect household nutrition and food-related spending. Regardless of where the food loss and waste occur, in a world where nearly 1 in 3 people faces moderate or severe food insecurity), it is a travesty that two and a half billion tons of food each year never gets consumed (WWF-UK 2021).
And in the past several years, global shocks including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have led to food shortages, restrictions on exports, and increased global food prices to the highest levels ever recorded (Glauber et al. 2022; Treisman 2022). In the face of such shocks, reducing food loss and waste effectively means increasing the amount of food available to consumers. Recovering surplus food that would otherwise be wasted and ensuring its redistribution to people in need can also help address growing food security concerns.
Consider the economic costs. Food loss and waste results in more than US$1 trillion in economic losses globally per year. Recent estimates from the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) indicate that the global costs of food loss and waste are 25-50% higher than previously estimated, in part because of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from food loss and waste. Therefore, investing in food loss and waste reduction efforts can reap significant economic benefits. For example, one study found that food-related businesses such as canteens, hotels, and restaurants can experience up to a 14-fold return on their investment in food waste reduction programs (Hanson and Mitchell 2017).
Consider the environment. The production of food that is ultimately lost or wasted requires a land area greater than that of China (FAO 2013). Moreover, food loss and waste generates about 8–10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions annually (IPCC 2020). To put this in perspective, if food loss and waste were a country, it would be the second-largest greenhouse gas emitter on the planet—surpassed only by China. When food is lost or wasted, the land, water, and fertilizer used to produce that food goes to waste as well. Considering these impacts, reducing food loss and waste can generate a triple win. It can help feed more people. It can increase savings for farmers, businesses, and households. And it can reduce the food system’s pressure on the environment and help mitigate climate change.
Box 1: Why Target-Measure-Act?
The Target-Measure-Act approach to reducing food loss and waste is based on the simple steps wherein a country or company sets a food loss and waste reduction target, measures its food loss and waste, and acts to reduce the hot spots of it.
- Target. Targets set ambition, and ambition motivates action. Therefore, as a first step toward reducing food loss and waste, governments and companies should set reduction targets aligned with SDG 12.3.
- Measure. The adage “what gets measured gets managed” holds true for this issue as well. Quantifying food loss and waste within borders, operations, or food supply chains can help decision-makers better understand how much, where, and why food is being lost or wasted. This information is the foundation for developing and prioritizing reduction strategies. In addition, measurement is necessary if entities are to know whether they are on track to meeting SDG 12.3; they need to publicly quantify a base-year amount of food loss and waste and monitor change over time.
- Act. Setting targets and measuring food loss and waste are important. But what ultimately matters is action. Therefore, governments and companies need to follow through on implementation. Flanagan et al. (2019) provide recommendations on several actions that actors in the food supply chain, from farmers to consumers, can take to reduce food loss and waste.
A historic opportunity
In September 2015, a historic window of opportunity opened to elevate the issue of food loss and waste reduction on the global agenda. At the United Nations General Assembly, countries around the world formally adopted a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Global goals to end poverty and hunger, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all populations and generations (UN 2017). SDG 12 seeks to “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.” The third target under this goal (SDG 12.3) calls for halving per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and supply chains (including postharvest losses) by 2030. Many countries and initiatives, including Champions 12.3, are interpreting this target to mean that all food loss and waste across the food supply chain should be reduced by 50 percent.
This ambitious yet achievable target has the potential to embed the reduction of food loss and waste firmly in public and private sector strategies around the world for the first time. Moreover, national action on this problem can help countries meet their commitments to the Paris Agreement on climate change. It is truly a global target, but every country, company, and individual has a role to play.