The participants to the 154^th Session of the FAO Council will have the opportunity to hear about practical and context specific approaches for food loss prevention and reduction.

Food security and nutrition are achieved when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. Food losses directly impact the availability and accessibility of safe and nutritious food for human consumption. In line with eliminating hunger and achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2, there is a need for action-oriented collaboration amongst FAO, UNIDO and other UN agencies for providing technical and policy support for nutrition sensitive sustainable food systems development.

The Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), G20, CFS, Habitat III, African Union, CELAC, and numerous National Governments have made food loss prevention and reduction a priority. Local, national, regional, and intergovernmental actions should strengthen policy interventions and public private- civil society networks.

Agenda 2030 was adopted in September 2015 and it launched the Sustainable Development Goals as relevant to all countries and adaptable to different contexts. Prevention and reduction of food loss is strongly linked with SDG 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture and also with SDG 12.3 target by 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.

Purpose: To sensitize Governments, Intergovernmental Organizations and Civil Society Organizations on the need to make food loss reduction a priority, in order to provide sufficient, safe and nutritious food for all - in a world with limited natural resources.

Responsible Office:

Economic and Social Department (ES)

Introductory Remarks:

H. E. Prof. José Graziano da Silva, Director General, FAO 

H. E. Ambassador Majid Dehghan Shoar, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to FAO 

Speakers:

Opening remarks by His Eminence Luis Antonio Tagle, President, Caritas Internationalis 

Mr. Kostas Stamoulis, Assistant Director General a.i., Economic and Social Department (ES), FAO

Mr. Karl Schebesta, Chief, Food Systems and Nutrition Division, UNIDO

H.E. Maria Laura da Rocha, Ambassador of the Federative Republic of Brazil and Permanent Representative to FAO 

Open discussion and call for action

Concluding Remarks:

The Most Rev. Fernando Chica Arellano, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to FAO

Moderator:

Ms Anna Lartey, Director, Nutrition and Food Systems Division (ESN), FAO

Presentations:

The Economic Impact of Food Loss

Related URL:

FAO-IFAD-WFP Community of Practice (CoP) on food loss reduction

Twitter Hashtag:

#CL154; #UNFAO #foodloss; #savefood