A side event focused on Driving Food Loss and Waste through Innovation was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the One Planet Sustainable Food System Programme, on the margins of the 47th Session of the Committee on Food Security (CFS).

The UN General Assembly designated 2021 the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables (IYFV). This is being launched officially on 15th December. Stay tuned! we will communicate soon details for participation.

The IYFV 2021 is a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the important role of fruits and vegetables in human nutrition, food security and health and as well in achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Speaking at the event the FAO Director-General described the initiative as "a unique opportunity to raise global awareness". He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had challenged people to find new ways of fighting hunger and malnutrition and said IYFV would highlight the role of digital technologies in improving nutrition and market opportunities.

A Special Issue on Food loss and waste based on several SOFA 2019 findings articles is available for consultation.

Disruptions in supply chains resulting from blockages on transport routes, transport restrictions and quarantine measures are resulting in significant increases in food loss and waste, especially of perishable agricultural produce such as fruits and vegetables, fish, meat and dairy products.

Pulses are important in agricultural production systems, in managing soil fertility, reducing the adverse effects of climate change and enhancing resilience especially for the most vulnerable groups, especially women and children; in food and feed especially during lean periods in food- and nutrition-insecure countries. Furthermore, pulses are an important source of income for the most vulnerable households in developing countries around the world and account for a relatively large share of world trade through processing and marketing. Measures taken by countries to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic could likely increase exacerbate losses in pulses due to inappropriate harvest and post-harvest practices, ultimately contributing to reducing their availability and accessibility.

With physical distancing and reduced shopping trips to supermarkets, buying large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables becomes difficult, with the risk of them going to waste, during this COVID-19 pandemic. There are, however, simple ways in which fruits and vegetables can be preserved at home to reduce waste. Many vegetables, can be blanched by dipping in boiling water for approximately 5 minutes and then pickled and fermented. Fruits can be preserved by blanching and freezing, juicing, drying, frying, or preserved with sugar into jams and fruit preserves.
Root crops and bananas can be fried to produce chips.

SDC-funded PHM projects are in their final phase, while one concluded a few years ago. All of these projects have had similar objectives and a shared thematic focus, using much the same approaches. Their common goal has been “to increase food security of smallholder farmers in SSA through reduced postharvest losses at farm and community level".

The State of Food and Agriculture 2019 (SOFA) launched at a press conference with the Director-General and Maximo Torero (ADG-ES), on Monday, 14 October at 12:00 in the Sheikh Zayed Centre is about Moving forward on food loss and waste reduction. It provides in...

September 17th – 20th, 2019 at the African Union Headquarters, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Postharvest Loss Reduction and Agro-processing: Drivers of Agricultural Transformation in Africa

Acknowledging the urgent need to address this global challenge, the University of Nairobi and a co...