Women Forward International

 

 

Women Forward International

Carla Mucavi, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York

I thank the organizers of this important event for the invitation extended to FAO.

The world currently has the capacity to produce enough food so that every person on earth can benefit from a nutritious diet. 

With population growth, increasing urbanization, climate change, stagnation of land resources for food production an increasing scarcity of water resources, and in the current context of COVID-19, a critical challenge facing our world today is ensuring sufficient supplies of safe and nutritious food for all, and particularly the most vulnerable.

FAO estimates that millions are likely to join the ranks of the hungry as a result of the recession triggered by COVID-19. Depending on the severity of economic contractions, that number could range from 14 to 80 million in the worst-case scenario. 

Clearly from an ethical perspective, there is simply no room for food loss and waste.

Food loss and waste is a systemic problem, meaning that it occurs at every step of the food supply chain from production to consumption – taking place in supermarkets, restaurants and in the home.

Two fundamental objectives generally underlie public policies for reducing food loss and waste: improved food security and nutrition and environmental sustainability.

Clarity about the objectives being pursued is essential for identifying the most appropriate policies and entry points for reducing food loss and waste.

Different countries may have different objectives to guide their choices.

Low-income countries focus mainly on improving food security and nutrition, in addition to the sustainable management of land and water resources. This calls for a focus on reducing food loss and waste early in the supply chain, including at farm level, and in traditional supply chains where impacts will be the greatest and losses tend to be the highest.

This necessitates the improvement of production and post-harvest handling practices, coupled with development of the infrastructural support base of the food supply system – packhouses, logistics systems, cool and dry storage systems, processing facilities as well as basic infrastructure including potable water supplies - or its institutional and legal framework.

Industrialized countries with lower levels of food insecurity place emphasis on environmental objectives, in particular reducing GHG emissions. This calls for interventions later in the supply chain, such as adjusting marketing standards for fresh fruits and vegetables, clarification of food labeling issues such as best before and use-by dates, tax exemptions to facilitate food donations. There may be trade-offs between objectives, and choices may have to be made about which objectives to prioritize.

Awareness must be raised; targets must be set by countries and capacities must be built in order to facilitate countries to measure and take appropriate action toward reducing food loss and waste. The development of partnerships between private and public stakeholders, both nationally and internationally to facilitate joint investments with short, medium and long-term returns for all food system actors is also critical.

To this extent I am honored to share with you that the 74^th United Nations General Assembly has designated 29 September as the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, recognizing the fundamental role that sustainable food production plays in promoting food security and nutrition.  The observance aims at raising awareness on the importance of the food loss and waste issue and promoting global efforts towards adresiing it.

By preventing food loss and waste, we can: save nutritious food for redistribution to those in need; avoid pressure on scarce natural resources, help mitigate climate change; and save money for farmers, companies and households.