Food waste and sustainable development goals

Approximately one billion tons of food is wasted annually. Households account for 61% of this waste, followed by the food service industry with 26% and retail with 13%. In order to feed the world’s population, which currently numbers two billion, we will need to produce 60% more food by the year 2050. With food insecurity now affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide, reducing food waste is essential for developing low-impact, wholesome, and resilient food systems. Reducing food waste benefits people, the planet, and prosperity in a variety of ways. It increases food security, deals with the world’s issues of pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change, and eases the pressure on waste management systems. In order to inform national food waste prevention efforts and monitor progress toward the 2030 goals (halve food waste by 2030), the Food Waste Index invites countries to utilize its methodology to evaluate food waste at the household, food service, and retail levels. The Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO) offers a variety of consumer- or household-level suggestions for reducing food waste, including maintaining a balanced diet, only purchasing what is necessary, and storing food properly. In order to implement the focused intervention, it is crucial for countries to identify key commodities and the subsequent stages where substantial losses take place. By identifying these crucial loss spots and implementing the necessary remedies, food loss can be significantly reduced. In order for nations to create evidence-based, focused actions, data collection efforts are critically required.