Friends of Champions 12.3 India Network brings together like-minded companies and organizations to align their efforts and build collaborative agenda for reducing food loss and food waste in India. It works towards spearheading actions that can help reduce food loss and waste through multi-stakeholder collaborations and leadership from governments, businesses, and civil society in India. The Network aims to inspire ambition and mobilize action across food supply chains, continuing the global movement led by Champions 12.3 for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 12.3 by 2030.
As SDG 12 seeks to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, Target 12.3 under this goal calls for halving per capita food waste at the retail and consumer level while also reducing losses along food production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses, by 2030. The Friends of Champions 12.3 Network in India aims to operationalize the Champions 12.3 strategy via a three-pronged approach Target-Measure-Act focusing on policy, practice and partnerships and engages with network members for:
- Thinking through the SDG 12.3 target 2030 and crafting actionable plans
- Providing a platform for learning and exchange of ideas, best practices, innovations and experiences
- Support the monitoring of progress and find ways to scale up action
- Foster collaborations and partnerships for inclusive and sustainable development
- Support development and implementation for sustainable food systems
Food Loss and Food Waste is a Grave Challenge in India
India is one of the global leaders in food production, yet it houses 224.3 million undernourished people in the world, accounting for approximately 32 percent of the world’s hungry as reported during 2019-21. India’s food and nutrition status is concerning, as more than a third of under five children are stunted (measuring shorter than average) and about 20 percent are wasted (weighing less than average) due to malnutrition, while more than 50 percent of adult women are also found to be anaemic. The high incidence of food loss and food waste at various stages of food supply chain (Figure 1) has been impacting the country’s nutrition security by compromising food’s availability, and utilization. A recent study by Ministry of Food Processing Industries in 2022 reported that post-harvest losses in India is estimated to have an economic value of USD 18.54 billion (INR 1527.90 billion as per conversion rates in 2022). Additionally, food waste generated at the household level amounts to about 50 kg/capita/year resulting in a total household level food waste of 6.8 Mt every year (UNEP 2021). Despite these alarming figures, attention on the food loss and food waste issues in India remains negligent. The figure shown below maps key points where food loss and food waste occurs across food supply chains.
Figure 1. Food loss and food waste across food supply chains in India. Source: WRI India
Research by WRI India with support from FOLU India reveals several critical information gaps currently existing on food loss and food waste issues in India. The paper highlights the key gaps in research, policy, and practice such as:
- Fragmented nature of action and lack of multi-stakeholder partnerships for coordinated efforts on research and action
- Lack of reliable data on the scale of the problem and associated solutions
- Lack of awareness, motivation, and capacity among different stakeholders (farmers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers) across the food supply chain to reduce food loss and food waste
These research gaps manifest the need of a roadmap for managing food loss and food waste in India and indicate a strong need for robust data-driven strategies and solutions.
Reducing food loss and food waste in India can help ensure food and nutrition security for its people, better incomes for both food producers and consumers and ease pressure on its land and water ecosystems while reducing green house gas (GHG) emissions.
Present Members of Friends of Champions 12.3 India Network
Useful Resources
- T20 Policy Brief on Reducing Food Loss and Waste: Enabling Action Through the Target-Measure-Act Approach
- Food Loss and Waste in India: The Knowns and The Unknowns (Working paper)
- The Overlooked Case for Reducing Food Loss and Waste (Opinion)
- Inspiring, enabling and mobilizing action on Food loss and waste in India (Blog)
- Tracking Tomatoes from Plough to Plate (Photo Story)
- Food loss has multiple dimensions – economic, social, environmental (Podcast)
Recent Updates
- May 2023 | Friends of Champions 12.3 India: Third Quarterly Meeting
- January 2023 | Friends of Champions 12.3 India: Second Quarterly Meeting
- November 2022 | Stakeholder consultation on Co-creating Pathways to Reduce Food losses in the Tomato Value Chain in Madhya Pradesh
- September 2022 | Friends of Champions 12.3 India: First Quarterly Meeting
- September 2022 | Stakeholder consultation on Inspiring and Mobilizing Action to Reduce Food Losses in Retail Supply Chains
- October 2021 | Session on Roadmap for Tackling Food Loss and Waste in India: Policy, Practice and Partnerships
- August 2021 | Virtual Launch and Round Table on Champions 12.3 for Reducing Food Loss and Waste for Sustainable Food Systems in India
- July 2021 | Webinar on Fostering Friends of Champions 12.3 in India
