CFS side event: Combining a cost model and evidence synthesis to determine effective interventions to reduce post-harvest losses

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Cornell University, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany (BMZ), and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) have organized a side event in occasion of the CFS 46 session (Rome, FAO HQ - 14-18 October 2019). 

Reducing food waste and loss are long-standing challenges undermining efforts to end hunger, improve farmer incomes, and promote sustainable production and consumption. Understanding where and why losses occur along the food chain is essential to effective policy interventions. For instance, storage is an important element in food security stability but getting stockholding wrong exacerbates waste and undermines farmers' prices. Addressing storage-related challenges requires more than just an understanding of recent technological advances. It also requires better-informed policy. That's where Ceres2030 makes a contribution. Ceres2030: sustainable solutions to end hunger, is a joint initiative of Cornell University, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

Ceres2030 weds an economic model that puts a cost on interventions with a series of evidence reviews that identify interventions that proven to be effective in tackling hunger. Using our work on post-harvest food losses to illustrate the approach, this side event will look at how economic models, machine learning, systematic reviews, and other research tools can help policymakers and donors assess financial costs and identify effective ways to reduce waste and food loss. We will invite both policy makers and practitioners to join us on the panel to discuss the research findings and its implications for public investments to realize SDG 2.