Presentation by Maximo Torero Cullen, Chief Economist, FAO at the Food Loss and Waste in Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains policy seminar, jointly organized by IFPRI, Embassy of Denmark, and World Resources Institute

1. Current Status of Food Loss and Waste
Reduction
Maximo Torero Cullen
Chief Economist
POLICY SEMINAR
Food Loss and Waste in Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains
Co-organized by IFPRI, Embassy of Denmark, and World
Resource Institute
MAR 14, 2023 - 9:30 TO 11:00AM EDT

2. 020
Burden of Malnutrition – Global
Source: FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2020. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020.
828 million
people are undernourished
More than 3.1 billion
people in the world cannot afford healthy diets
149
45
39
45%
million wasted
million overweight
Children <5
million stunted
Nutrient deficiency
mortality has malnutrition
as an underlying cause
Vitamin A deficiency affecting 500,000
childhood blindness /year
Folic acid deficiency resulting in 88,000
child deaths /year
Iron deficiency affecting millions of
children’s disease/disability 0-9 /year.
SDG 12.3
SDG 2.1, 2.2,
2.3, 2.4

3. Food Waste
Food Loss Food Waste
Food Loss
Source: FAO-SOFA 2019
FOOD LOSS and WASTE: Definitions

4. 020
Global Facts and Figures
13.2 percent of
food, valued at
$400 billion is lost
on an annual basis
between harvest
and the retail
market
(FAO 2019)
17 cent of food
production is
wasted in
households,
food services
and in retail
(UNEP 2020)
Food loss and waste
account for
approximately 8-10
per cent of global
greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions
(UNEP 2021)

5. Globally, food losses percentage estimates by
region
0
5
10
15
20
25
Food Loss Percentages globally and by region
2021
2020
2016
• Globally FLP is at 13.2%
• Not much change since
the first estimates of
2016 ( 13.8%)
• In the 2021 estimates:
• Highest losses are
in SSA at 19.95%
• Lowest losses are
in Northern
America and
Europe at 9.19%

6. Globally, food losses percentage estimates by
region
Region 2016 2020 2021
Globally 13 13.3 13.23
Northern America and Europe 9.2 9.9 9.19
Sub-Saharan Africa 20.5 21.4 19.95
Latin America and the Caribbean 12.2 12.3 14.52
Oceania (Excluding Australia and New Zealand) 13.6 14.8 12.43
Australia and New Zealand 12.6 13.6 13.93
Western Asia and Northern Africa 13.1 14.8 14.18
Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia 15 15.1 14.53
Small Island Developing States 16.3 17.3 18.99
Central Asia and Southern Asia 13.8 13.6 12.62
Least Developed Countries 18 18.9 16.41
Land Locked Developing Countries 14.1 14.9 14.24

7. Globally, food losses are highest for perishables
and nutrient rich foods
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Cereals and pulses Meat and Animal
Products
Roots, tubers and oil-
bearing crops
Fruits and vegetables
Food Loss Percentage by commodity group
2016
2020
2021
• Highest losses in the Fruits and
Veg food group at 31.15% in
2021 estimates . This is due to:
• High perishability
• Few intervention strategies
• Lowest losses in the cereals and
pulses food group at 7.23% in
2021 estimates. Could be due
to:
• Lower perishability (dry
grains)
• Food security crop so more
interventions for loss
reduction focused here.

8. Aburto (2021). Presentation on Food loss and waste and their nutritional impacts: an agrifood systems perspective
Availability of Fruits & Vegetables
Source: FAO, The State of Food and Agriculture 2019.
• If we reduced FLW by 50%, there would be sufficient Fruits & Vegetables
available in the food supply to cover the recommendations globally.

9. FLW impact the environment from the use of
resources used to produce food and from the
generation of greenhouse gas emissions
FLW Impact Food System
Sustainability
Sustainability
FLW Induce economic
losses and reduce returns
on investment
FLW impede development
and hinder social progress

10. Reducing food loss and waste is a
significant lever for broader improvements
of our food systems toward improving food
security, food safety, quality and
sustainability and increasing efficiency.

11. United Nations Food Systems Summit. 2021.
https://sc-fss2021.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/SDG2
Reducing food loss and waste
is a triple win, it:
increases access to healthy
diets,
makes efficient use of our
natural resources
reduces impacts on the
environment.

12. On farm
postharvest/
slaughter
Storage Transportatio
n
Processing and
Packaging
Wholesale &
Retail
Central
and
Southern
Asia
Cereals &
Pulses
Low: 0
Median:0.4%
High:2.6%
Low: 0
Median: 0.5%
High:2.1%
Low: 0.1%
Median:0.5%
High:0.7%
Low: 0.02%
Median:0.1%
High:0.3%
Low: 0.02%
Median:0.2%
High:1.1%
Fruit &
Veg
Low: 0
Median:1.3%
High:7.7%
Low: 0
Median:1.4%
High:5.9%
Low: 0.4%
Median:8%
High:25%
Low: 0
Median:0.03%
High:0.25%
Low: 0.3%
Median:5%
High: 15%
Meat &
Fish
Global averageover value chain up to but excludingretail:12%
Eastern &
SE Asia
Cereal &
Pulses
Low: 0.2%
Median:5.5%
High: 18%
Low: 0.3%
Median:7.2%
High: 15%
Low: 0.5%
Median:10%
High: 15%
Low: 0.5%
Median:8%
High: 16%
Low: 1.2%
Median:4%
High: 4.5%
Fruit &
Veg
Low: 0
Median:5.7%
High: 12.5%
Low: 2.5%
Median: 21.3%
High: 50%
Low: 0.8%
Median:8.4%
High: 13%
Low: 0
Median: 12.5%
High: 37.5%
Low: 0.5
Median:4.9%
High: 12.7%
Meat &
Fish
Global averageover value chain up to but excludingretail:12%
SSA
Cereals &
Pulses
Low: 0.1%
Median:3.7%
High: 17.3%
Low: 0
Median:6.9%
High: 22.5%
Low: 0.1%
Median:2.3%
High: 3.7%
Low: 0.1%
Median:3.5%
High: 20.2%
No data
Fruit &
Veg
Low: 0
Median: 15%
High: 50%
Low: 0.5%
Median:8.1%
High: 35%
Low: 0.3%
Median:2.1%
High:28%
Low: 0
Median:4.1%
High:20.5%
Low: 0.2%
Median: 16.3%
High:35.5%
Meat &
Fish
Global averageover value chain up to but excludingretail:12%
Priority areas
for reducing
FLW

13. Economic Case for Reducing Food
Losses
Source: Preliminary results based on Laborde and Torero (2021) Source: Preliminary results based on Laborde and Torero (2021)

14. Economic Case for Reducing Food
Losses

15. Increasing possibilities to collect
and use data
- To inform innovation strategies
and approaches targeted at
reducing food loss and waste.
quantity of data and the
possibilities to collect and use
them in developing policies
Innovations along the food
chain that create new
products, services, and
business models are crucial
for reducing the amount and
extent of food loss and
waste worldwide.
Strengthening country
capacities, especially
developing countries, to
adopt sustainable
innovative approaches
and technology to combat
food loss and waste
Types of Innovations and Actions Needed

16. “There are low-cost, high-impact
interventions that can help hundreds of
millions of people get rid of hunger. If we
can attract an annual investment of about
$40 to $50 billion until 2030 to fund
targeted interventions — like agricultural
R&D, innovation, digital agriculture,
reduction of food loss and waste, literacy
improvement for women, and social
protection programs’. etc. (Dr QU Dongyu, FAO
Director-General, 23 September)

17. FAO’s Areas of Emphasis
• Sound data and evidence to track the
food loss index indicator, and to serve as
a basis for policy support to countries.
• Introduction of context-appropriate
resource efficient sustainable
technologies, and innovative approaches
to enhance safety and quality.
Solar Milk Cooling Technology
Plastic crates to reduce transport losses Grain Storage Cassava Press

18. FAO’s Areas of Emphasis
Support smallholder uptake and use of
digital technologies
 Block chain technologies to enhance
food traceability
 Mobile telephones to increase access to
finance.
 Online platforms for marketing, e-
commerce and food delivery services
 ICT to support remote training of
stakeholders
Apps

19. www.fao.org/platform-food-loss-waste
Knowledge sharing and
networking
Knowledge Sharing,
Networking and Technical
Exchange that prioritises
food loss and waste
reduction

20. Thank You