Smallholder farmers to receive training, resources and financing to increase the share of food that reaches the market
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 24, 2024) – Today, several of the world’s largest farm-gate-facing agriculture companies and important national agriculture companies – including Olam Agri, ITC Limited, Sereni Fries Ltd, Kinazi Cassava Plant (KCP), Spice World Ltd, ETG and Premier Foods Ltd (PFL) – announced a joint commitment to help the farmers in their supply chains reduce on-farm food losses by 50% by 2030.
Together, these companies work with hundreds of thousands of farmers worldwide, forming a powerful alliance of multinational, national, and regional businesses, including in Africa. Their pre-competitive collaboration offers an opportunity for sharing knowledge and best practices to address food loss — a critical issue in the global supply chain.
“About 40% of the global food supply is lost or wasted between farms and people’s plates. We know from recent research that food loss on farms is a much bigger problem than previously thought, and it’s happening across the globe – not just in developing countries, as many believe,” said Sunny Verghese, Co-founder & Group CEO, Olam Group and Co-Chair of Champions 12.3, the coalition of executives that has organized the new on-farm food loss initiative. “This enormous waste hurts farmer incomes, food security, the climate, and costs over a trillion dollars every year.”
According to new research from Champions 12.3, the world is at risk of missing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, which aims to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses, by 2030.
The term ‘food loss’ refers to food that is unharvested or spoils before reaching the market, while ‘food waste’ refers to food that is thrown out or otherwise wasted by retailers and consumers. Food losses happen on farms for a variety of reasons, including poor harvesting practices, inadequate storage, changes in demand and a lack of alternative markets.
“Right now, we are not on track to meet the UN’s target on food loss and waste. But if enough governments and companies can prioritize the issue – as those that are part of today’s announcement have – we may still be able to realize significant benefits for people and the planet,” said Verghese.
The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that halving food loss and waste alone could cut total greenhouse gas emissions by up to 5 percent. It is also an important strategy for ensuring sufficient food in a world where nearly 1 in 3 people faces moderate or severe food insecurity.
Farmgate-facing agriculture companies are crucial to combating food losses via initiatives often referred to as ‘out-grower programs', which provide training, capacity-building, finance and access to technology and markets. In developing countries, these companies are especially important as farmer aggregators, engaging with farmers who are otherwise hard to reach.
This support is vital given that, worldwide, 84 percent of farmers are smallholders – meaning they manage less than two hectares of land – yet they produce 32 percent of all food globally.
“Reducing farm-related agri and food wastages is a core objective of ITC's sustainability agenda. Multi-dimensional initiatives leverage technology and innovation to empower farmers through advanced climate smart practices, know-how and technical assistance. Extensive on-ground support is provided to scale appropriate solutions to improve productivity, resilience and reduce food losses," said Sanjiv Puri, Chairman of ITC Limited. "At the core is ITCMAARS, a 'phygital' ecosystem specially designed to offer a suite of tech-enabled solutions. Our Agri team will continue to intensify its efforts to support farmer producer organizations in the efficient handling of farm produce, improve productivity and progressively take site-specific action in climate hotspots – thereby ensuring that agri-food loss is addressed at critical points.”
"PFL is committed to achieving a net zero target for operational emissions as well as a zero waste to landfill target by 2025. As we engage with thousands of small-scale farmers in our value chain, we also promote sustainable agricultural practices,” said Martin Munyiri, General Manager of Premier Foods Ltd. “This initiative is essential to our farmers as it will enhance on-farm activities to improve productivity and minimize food loss and waste. By equipping farmers with the necessary expertise, resources, and innovative tools, we aim to implement effective solutions that positively impact their livelihoods and the broader community.”
The new farm-level effort follows the “target-measure-act” model pioneered by Champions 12.3 in its 10x20x30 initiative, which works with retailers and their suppliers to combat food loss and waste. Over the past three years, 248 retailers and suppliers have joined 10x20x30, and those actively measuring and publicly reporting their data already have achieved an average 15.4% reduction in food loss and waste.
Additional Quotes from Participating Companies
“Tackling farm losses optimizes supply chains, creating a ripple effect of benefits for smallholder farmers and consumers. As Sereni Fries Ltd, we are committed to reducing on-farm food losses by providing technical support to our smallholder farmers, helping them improve potato production practices and minimize material rejects. Through this initiative we see expanding interventions to include innovative range of products to utilize produce what would otherwise be discarded.” — Humphrey Mburu, CEO, Sereni Fries Ltd
“Climate change is undermining farmers’ incomes and food security. The sector will need to find more supply chain efficiencies and tackle post-harvest losses and food waste where possible to secure a healthy future. At ETG we work with more than 3 million smallholder farmers through our various commodity supply chains, mostly in Sub-Sahara Africa, and we are launching various initiatives to create more value in food supply chains to benefit farmers and consumers´ livelihoods and environment.” — André van den Beld, Head of Sustainability, ETG
“As a leading agro-processing company in Kenya, Spice World Ltd is committed to producing safe, natural, and nutritious food that not only improves the health and well-being of people but also contributes to sustainable agricultural practices. Partnering with WRI on the 10x20kx30 initiative is a crucial step in our journey to reducing food loss and waste, challenges that not only threaten food security but also impact livelihoods, climate, and natural resources. We believe this collaboration aligns perfectly with our mission to responsibly source and deliver nutritious food products while making a positive impact on the environment and society.” — Beju Shah, Managing Director, Spice World Ltd
Quotes from Supporting Organizations
“Each year, it’s estimated 1.2 billion tons of food is lost on farms globally. A key issue is the lack of data on how much food is left on farms; whether it’s marketable, can be profitably harvested and distributed, or is spoiled. WWF and partners are addressing this by working with farmers and buyers using the Global Farm Loss Tool to reduce waste and get more of what is grown to people.” — Pete Pearson, Global Initiative Lead - Food Loss and Waste, WWF
“As Wageningen University & Research we are excited about the launching of the 10x20kx30 initiative. Supporting smallholder farmers in reducing FL is critical in view of multiple development goals. A great example is the reduction of food loss in Nigerian rice smallholder farmers, as pioneered by WUR and partners. WUR is proud to contribute to the 10x20kx30 initiative, which will be instrumental to scale the efforts to reduce food loss and waste and benefit smallholders.” — Sjoukje Heimovaara, President of the Executive Board, Wageningen University & Research
“The CGF Food Waste Coalition is dedicated to the ‘Target, Measure, Act’ approach across the whole value chain. Alongside the new 10x20Kx30 initiative, our members are working closely with growers in their supply chains to measure and report post-harvest losses via World Wildlife Fund’s Global Farm Loss Tool. Supporting farmers is crucial, as they are key to ensuring a sustainable food system and significantly reducing food losses.” — Wai-Chan Chan, Managing Director, The Consumer Goods Forum
"It is gratifying to see increasing interest and support for developing and utilizing systematic food loss measurement tools. Our early work with WWF, WRI and FAO to develop protocols and measure losses have supported the goals of Champions 12.3 and resulted in sharing practical knowledge, skills and food loss and waste reduction practices as part of PEF's "Training of Postharvest Trainers" programs in Africa and South Asia." — Dr. Lisa Kitinoja, Founder, The Postharvest Education Foundation
Contact: Jillian Holzer, jillian.holzer@wri.org, +1 202-264-0567