Food loss and waste is a major issue in the Asia and Pacific region and coordinated, strategic actions are needed to address the impact it is having on climate change, food security, and the region’s overall economy. This was the conclusion of 18 Member countries during a virtual consultation convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) during a two-day series of discussions.

According to FAO’s most recent estimates (2019), the amounts of food either lost or wasted range from 5–6 percent in Australia and New Zealand, to 20 – 21 percent in Central and Southern Asia. Globally, food losses and food waste represent nearly a quarter of all blue water used in agricultural production and approximately USD 940 billion in economic losses.

“The Asia and Pacific Region continues to lose and waste too much food. Government and non-state actors, working together, must deliver on Sustainable Development Goal 12, which aims to halve global food waste at the retail and consumer levels, and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses by 2030,” said Anthony Bennett, FAO Senior Food Systems Officer at the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.