The world’s population, currently at 8.2 billion, is expected to grow to close to 9.7 billion people by 2050. Ensuring a food secure world, where current and future populations have access to sufficient nutritious food, crucially requires new ways of working, and concerted efforts to improve the sustainability and resilience of agrifood systems globally.

Reducing food loss and waste helps to protect natural resources and biodiversity, reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and maximize the use of food produced. It is therefore central to securing efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, and to improving food security, nutrition and health.

Embracing innovation and fostering circular economy approaches in agrifood systems to prevent, reduce, reuse and repurpose FLW also serves to create new job opportunities, improve livelihoods and generate financial benefits for a range of stakeholders. 

Now is the time for everyone, from producers, investors, businesses and supply chain stakeholders to consumers of all ages, as well as academia and research, civil society, and the private and public sectors, to take urgent action to expand and strengthen efforts both individually and collectively, to reduce food loss and waste towards ensuring a food secure world, now and in the future. 

Reducing FLW is enshrined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within SDG 12, which seeks to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, Target 12.3 aims to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030.