This past week UNEP released the Food Waste Index Report 2024 – Think Eat Save: Tracking Progress to Halve Global Food Waste.

The report builds on the initial Food Waste Index Report 2021, which found that 17% (931 million tonnes) of global food production went to waste across the household, retail, and foodservice sectors in 2019.

The 2021 report marked a key step in the critical effort to collect more updated and granular data on both food loss and food waste following FAO’s landmark publication (Global Food Losses and Waste: Extent, Causes and Prevention) from 2011.  That report, which estimated that one third of food produced for human consumption was lost or wasted annually (at the time, about 1.3 billion tons per year) was pivotal in awakening the world to the scope and scale of the global food waste challenge.  It also suggested that much more food was wasted in the industrialized north than in developing countries on a per capita basis. 

Sustainable Development Goal 12 provides a frame for addressing the global food waste challenge through Target 12.3, which calls for halving per capita food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses. 

Halving global food wastage is no small task.  Recognizing the importance of distinguishing between food loss and food waste, as well as the need for increased data granularity to drive effective research and action in both areas, two custodian agencies have been assigned to guide measurement and reporting on progress toward Target 12.3.  The FAO has responsibility for the Food Loss Index (Indicator 12.3.1A), while UNEP has responsibility for the Food Waste Index (Indicator 12.3.1B).

The increased focus on data granularity is essential as it identifies areas for effective targeted solutions and behavior change interventions in multiple sectors and regions. 

In short, granularity is good. 

It is also especially important given the urgency with which nations must address global food loss and waste reduction, and broader food system transformation, to ensure that we can sustainably and equitably feed 10 billion global citizens within planetary boundaries by 2050.

Consider the food and emissions connection.  Food loss and waste accounts for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while the food system accounts for just over one third.  Further, recent research suggests that even if all non-food GHG emissions were immediately stopped, emissions from the global food system alone would make it impossible to limit warming to 1.5°C and even difficult to meet the higher 2°C limit.

Along with increased granularity, the 2024 Food Waste Index Report continues the steady drumbeat of important research and reports on food waste and food system change (some of which I covered in a December post) in line with UNFAO’s focus on food system transformation to meet global food security, nutrition, climate, and biodiversity needs.

2024 Report, Notable Takeaways

Clearly, we are wasting far too much of our precious food resources.  The 2024 Food Waste Index report notes that 1.05 billion tonnes of food (19% of food production) went to waste in 2022 across the household, foodservice, and retail sectors – a staggering amount which alone indicates the critical connection between global food waste, food security, climate change, and biodiversity loss. 

Moreover, that waste figure should be viewed in conjunction with the estimate of total food loss (from post-harvest to retail), which was estimated at 14% of global food production in FAO’s 2019 report – The State of Food and Agriculture: Moving Forward on Food Loss and Waste Reduction.

The report also makes a poignant connection to food security, estimating (conservatively) that the equivalent of one billion meals of edible food is being wasted daily across households worldwide – while the FAO’s 2023 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report indicates that 735 million global citizens experienced hunger in 2022.  The authors note that this level of waste is equivalent to 1.3 meals per person impacted by hunger per day – a clear indicator of how food waste reduction is a key lever in closing the hunger gap.

On a positive note, the 2024 report cites an increase in data availability and coverage across the three measured sectors (household, foodservice, and retail).  Data from 93 countries was obtained, up from 52 in the 2021 report.  More and better data will lead to better food loss and waste innovations and interventions.

Also on a positive note, the authors noted that there is increased confidence regarding a key finding from the 2021 report about household food waste, which appears to be broadly similar across high, middle, and low income groups across countries.  This is significant, lending support to the idea that food waste should no longer be viewed as solely a rich country problem.

Food waste was also highlighted as an urban issue – and with nearly 70% of the global population expected to reside in cities by 2050, the role of local governments in developing effective policies to reduce food waste will only grow in importance.  Note: the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has completed extensive research on the subject of reducing food waste in cities which warrants review, including the 2019 report Tackling Food Waste in Cities: A Policy and Program Toolkit.

The 2024 Food Waste Index report highlights the value of public-private partnerships in addressing global food waste with a focus on collaboration, measurement, and reporting. 

In addition, it provides a description of how the Food Waste Index is calculated along with considerable detail on the existing data and modelling.

Opportunity Areas

The 2024 report also highlights a number of opportunity areas to reduce global food waste, such as:

Much household food waste data is not from nationally representative baseline studies, and therefore more large scale baseline studies are needed.

More studies providing nationally representative food waste data from both the retail and foodservice sectors are needed.

Regarding the food and climate connection – the authors note that “there appears to be a slight positive relationship” between average country temperature and the amount of household food waste.  This makes broad intuitive sense but is also a clear area for further research.

Increased measurement efforts to “disaggregate estimates of food waste into edible and inedible parts” are needed – the granularity will aid in the development of effective downstream solutions (especially food recovery efforts) to maximize the utility of excess food resources.

Similarly, the 2024 report notes that new and ongoing estimates of food waste data should distinguish between rural and urban sectors to highlight opportunities to effectively utilize surplus food.

Improved data quality and comparability from the foodservice and retail sectors is needed.

Of the 1.05 billion tonnes of food going to waste annually, 60% is estimated to come from households, with 28% from foodservice and 12% from retail.  It goes without saying, all are significant opportunity areas for food waste reduction.

Despite the strong connection between food waste (and the global food system) and climate-warming emissions, only 21 of 193 countries that have submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as a result of the Paris Agreement have included commitments to reduce food loss and waste in their NDCs.  This was a frequently cited concern at COP28.

Building on Momentum

The increase in data points captured in the 2024 report, along with the increase in data granularity, the details on data modelling, and the guidance on the value of a collaborative approach to food waste reduction through public-private partnerships, are all positive points. 

In addition, the steady drumbeat of reports on food waste reduction and food system change is also positive, in keeping with the UNFAO’s roadmap for transforming agrifood systems to achieve food security within the 1.5°C threshold. 

Further, the critical connection between food waste, food security, climate change, and biodiversity loss is increasingly clear, as is the need for urgent, collaborative action to reduce global food loss and waste. 

But there is still an enormous amount of work to do, and extensive research and measurement is needed to guide effective action throughout multiple sectors in both developed and less developed countries. 

Food waste reduction at the consumer level in developed world countries is far from normalized and requires an enormous boost linked to educational programs and legislation.

Similarly, retailers and foodservice organizations still have much work to do in terms of measurement and reporting on food waste reduction.  Indeed, the 2024 Food Waste Index Report highlights the data gap in the retail and foodservice sectors, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Further, at the national level, few countries have robust baselines, echoing another key theme from COP28.  A key role remains for policymakers – as the authors note, G20 countries should “leverage their economic and political influence to take significant action on food waste.”  Bold national and regional goals, underpinned by robust measurement structures and transparent reporting, coupled with innovation incentives and appropriate legislation, are essential.  In addition, the nexus aspect of food waste reduction should be leveraged.  By reducing food waste, and optimally preventing its occurrence, governments can simultaneously drive progress toward multiple Sustainable Development Goals.

With per capita food waste of 132 kilograms (or 291 pounds) per year, we all can play a significant role in food waste reduction by cutting food waste at home, educating and influencing others in our professional circles, raising expectations of foodservice operations and retailers to demonstrate responsible use of food resources, and advocating for appropriate legislation to reduce food waste in landfills and promote sustainable food systems. 

A food system in which 19% of food goes to waste and 14% is lost while 9% of the global population is hungry is not only nonsensical, but unsustainable.

And detrimental to global security.

Let’s hope that the next version of the Food Waste Index report shows not only greater data granularity, but greater collaboration and progress on global food loss and waste reduction in accordance with Target 12.3.