Major Developments and Trends Since September 2023

Major Developments and Trends Since September 2023

Governments

Governmental action is key to successful efforts to reduce food loss and waste. Policies put in place by governments can either help or hinder food loss and waste prevention and reduction efforts. These policies can determine whether food loss and waste reduction is a priority for government agencies, private sector actors, and households within a country or region. And national communications such as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) developed by countries for submission to the UNFCCC, can help to establish food loss and waste as a climate solution (Box 2).

Most national governments are not addressing food loss and waste in a systematic way. As of our most recent assessment of global progress toward reducing food loss and waste, we assessed that countries representing just 35 percent of the world’s population are now acting at scale to address food loss and waste within their borders. Despite this slow rate of progress, there has been some positive movement toward national and regional action on food loss and waste. Profiled here are some examples of new and notable policy and strategy developments from national governments as well as global and regional bodies in the previous year.

Box 2. Nationally Determined Contributions and Food Loss and Waste

By early 2025, countries are meant to unveil new climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). These NDCs describe how a country intends to reduce GHGs) and limit global warming. NDCs in turn can help guide domestic policies across a national government, signal priorities to public and private sector investors, and can improve implementation of policy measures aimed at reducing GHGs.

Currently, not many countries mention food loss and waste in their NDCs. A forthcoming analysis from WRI’s System Change Lab found that just 25 countries include measures to reduce food loss and waste in their NDCs, and therefore not including food loss and waste in their climate strategies. Food loss and waste is a necessary focus area for countries aiming to achieve serious food loss and waste reductions, and therefore should be integrated into more NDCs during the next round of climate commitments.

Global

In December 2023, 134 countries signed the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action, in which countries committed to integrate food into their climate plans by 2025. The declaration was signed by many countries with the highest food-related greenhouse gas emissions, including Brazil, China, the European Union, and the United States. The importance of addressing food loss and waste was highlighted twice within the declaration, reflecting the increased awareness of the link between food loss and waste and climate change.

Reflecting the rise of food loss and waste on the global agenda, Reducing Food Loss & Waste: A Roadmap for Philanthropy was released at UNFCCC COP28 in Dubai. Following this launch, a consortium of NGOs, called the Global Action Drive, came together to coordinate and advance the needed global-level system change enabling efforts identified in the roadmap. The roadmap sets out how these global-level efforts are necessary to support national-level efforts to tackle food loss and waste. Such global efforts include developing food loss and waste reduction tools and guidance, ensuring lesson sharing between priority countries, identifying long-term financing models, and measuring and monitoring progress.

Australia
In July 2024, a new National Food Donation Tax Incentive was introduced into the Australian Parliament. If passed, the bill would amend the tax system to offer incentives for businesses donating food and services to food rescue organizations. The bill was the result of research by End Food Waste Australia and food rescue organizations within the country.

China
In December 2023, China published the final version of the National Food Security Law, which went into effect on June 1, 2024. The law called for grain producers to “use advanced and efficient grain storage, transportation, and processing facilities and equipment to reduce grain loss and waste,” but did not provide further details relating to how the law would be implemented.  Provincial-level governments have started to disclose progress on reducing food loss and waste (e.g. the measures taken to reduce food loss and waste, the progress on food loss and waste reduction). Additionally, two standards for reducing food waste of retailers, e-commerce, restaurants and hotels have been published in 2023 and early 2024 by food related industry associations.

European Union
As discussed in the 2023 Progress Report, the European Commission proposed legally binding food waste reduction targets to be achieved by EU member states by 2030 as a part of the revised EU Waste Framework Directive. The Commission’s proposed targets represented the first mandatory food waste reduction targets to be put forward by a national or supranational authority.

These targets would require member states to take the necessary measures to reduce food waste by 30 percent per capita jointly at the retail and consumption levels (i.e., restaurants, food service establishments, and households), and by 10 percent at the processing and manufacturing levels. This target is less ambitious than SDG 12.3, but still significant due to its prominence as the first legally binding targets to be proposed globally and give the opportunity to increase ambition and widen scope in the future.

In March 2024, members of the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved the revised Waste Framework Directive. The Parliament also voted to increase the ambition of the directive to reduce food waste at retail and consumption by 40%, and by 20% at the processing and manufacturing levels. This increase in ambition was proposed by members of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety within the European Parliament. However, this vote came too late for negotiations between the Council and Parliament to be finalized prior to European Parliament elections in June 2024, so this increase in ambition has not yet been codified and would need to be revisited by the next session of Parliament.

In June 2024, the European Council reviewed the Directive and retained the earlier, less ambitious targets while also introducing changes.

  • The revised directive provides for the possibility to set more ambitious targets by the end of 2027, when the Commission will review the 2030 targets.
  • The approach allows member states to select their baseline year against progress will be measured from 2023 or earlier. In the previous version of the directive, 2020 had been identified as the baseline year but member states raised concerns that 2020 was not a representative year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

India

  • The Union Budget 2024-25 has set a target to enhance agricultural infrastructure capacity (dry and cold storage) to reduce post-harvest losses and food waste by 4% in food grains and by 10% in horticulture produce. The budget has also focused on increasing food processing, treatment and testing facilities by supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, which will play a crucial role in addressing post-harvest losses and food waste in India.
  • The Indian Council of Agricultural Research established a working group on 'Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology for Horticulture' to unite experts for research, development and implementation of advanced technologies and practices. This initiative is aimed to improve post-harvest handling, minimize losses and maintain quality throughout the supply chain.
  • The Netherlands Embassy in India, in collaboration with the Centre for Responsible Business, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, International Training Center Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, and WRI India commissioned a study to identify data-driven solutions across the retail, hotel, restaurant, and catering segments in Mumbai and Pune. The landscaping study aimed to map food waste patterns, identify critical gaps in the value chain, and propose actionable recommendations.

Kenya
The Kenya government, in collaboration with FAO and local stakeholders, embarked on the country’s first Postharvest Management Strategy in 2023. The strategy, which is expected to be launched by end of this year (2024) is anchored on three strategic pillars: (i) knowledge, skills, and tools for food management at farm level, (ii) value chain development services, and (iii) food waste management initiatives. These pillars are underpinned by three strategic enablers: (i) policy, regulations, and legislation; (ii) Institutional arrangement and (iii) Research and knowledge management.

These efforts are part of Kenya’s broader goal to enhance food security and reduce the economic impact of post-harvest losses.

In addition to the postharvest strategy, the Retail Trade Association of Kenya (RETRAK), in partnership with Food Banking Kenya, FAO, WRI and stakeholders are supporting the development of guidelines for food redistribution in Kenya. This effort helps reduce food waste and ensures that excess food reaches those in need.

South Africa
In late September 2023, the South Africa Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment released a Draft Strategy for Reducing Food Losses and Waste, based around four primary goals:

  • Goal 1: Creating an enabling environment for the implementation of food loss and waste-related strategies. Activities within this goal include developing guidelines to prevent food loss and waste, guidelines for marketing of imperfect or “ugly” produce, and reviewing regulations around secondary markets for farmers.
  • Goal 2: Create a circular economy for food loss and waste in South Africa and expand beneficiation (or treatment) of food loss and waste. This would include developing a mandatory national FLW Prevention Plan and expanding access to food loss and waste treatment technology (such as for farmers.
  • Goal 3: Build capacity and raise awareness around food loss and waste in South Africa. Activities within this goal would include revising date labeling, adopting a Food Recovery Hierarchy, and public information campaigns around food loss and waste.
  • Goal 4: Addressing food waste diversion and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This goal would encompass the exploration of a carbon offset program for food loss and waste reduction activities, expanding food donation programs, and building public-private partnerships.

The comment period for the draft strategy closed in October 2023 and as of the release of this publication, the revised strategy has not yet been published.

Tanzania
In support of Tanzania’s National Post Harvest Management Strategy (NPHMS) 2019-2029, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture embarked on a program dubbed “Tuhifadhi Chakula” to addresses the inefficiencies within horticultural and cereal value chains that lead to significant post-harvest losses. The initiative’s comprehensive approach spans five production regions (Mbeya, Njombe, Morogoro, Tanga, and Pwani) and five market sheds (Dar-es-Salaam, Dodoma, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, and Zanzibar), focusing on enhancing food handling, storage, and value addition practices. The objectives of the project include: the improvement of food handling and storage, the facilitation of market access, the advocacy for beneficial policy and regulatory frameworks, and the strengthening of local organizations’ post-harvest management capabilities.

By breaking down policy-related barriers and facilitating a seamless flow from production to market, Tuhifadhi Chakula aims not only to improve market access and optimize production but also to make a significant contribution toward mitigating greenhouse gas emissions – a critical step in the fight against climate change.

United States
In June 2024, the Biden-Harris administration in the United States released the National Strategy to Reduce Food Loss and Waste and Recycle Organics. This strategy intends to provide a route for the US to meet its goal of a 50% reduction in food loss and waste by 2030, in line with SDG 12.3. The full strategy details activities already taken by government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as additional activities that could be taken in the future.

The strategy contains four objectives and related activities within each objective. These objectives are:

  • Objective 1: Prevent food loss. Some key activities in this objective include investing in agricultural research to reduce food losses, facilitating food donation directly from the farm level, and investing in extension activities to educate farmers and individuals on food loss prevention techniques.
  • Objective 2: Prevent food waste. Key activities in this objective include changing the Food Code to allow for food donations from retail food establishments, plans for a consumer education campaign, and funding for school activities addressing food and food waste prevention.
  • Objective 3: Increase the recycling rate for all organic waste. Over $83 million has been invested by the EPA in projects addressing organics recycling, and the USDA has invested $30 million in composting and food waste reduction programs with local and municipal governments.
  • Objective 4: Support policies that incentivize and encourage the prevention of food loss and waste and organics recycling. The US takes part in several international bodies and coalitions with activities relating to food loss and waste, such as the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the Food is Never Waste Coalition, and Champions 12.3.

The strategy also discusses the importance of public-private partnerships in reducing food loss and waste. On June 1, the three agencies renewed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA), which is comprised of the three major food industry associations in the United States.

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