Summary of topics and results
The Collaboration Initiative on Food Losses and Waste (Thünen Institute of Market Analysis) organised the expert panel in close cooperation with the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse gases (GRA), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and thinkstep-anz. The panel illustrated opportunities for connecting high-level politics with on-the-ground implementation, taking into consideration multiple stakeholders within the interdisciplinary and cross-cutting challenge that is food loss and waste (FLW) prevention. Roughly 90 international participants followed the discussion on-site and online, representing mostly the scientific community, a balanced number of public administrations, NGOs, enterprises, private individuals and a small number of policy-makers.
Hosted by the Thünen Institute’s research director, Stefan Lange, the discussion began with a keynote speech by Dr Chanjief Chandrakumar from thinkstep-anz on the impact of FLW on the global climate. His key message was the request for a range of localised but coordinated efforts at each stage of the agri-food supply chain in which everyone must play their part. Dr Felicitas Schneider from the Thünen Institute of Market Analysis presented the different working levels of the Collaboration Initiative FLW, ranging from participation in global committees to strengthening regional networks and local events to raise awareness of tackling FLW. She emphasised the need to join forces for a world with less FLW, which would not only help achieve SDG 12.3 but could also reveal untapped potential of other SDGs. The importance of involving cities was highlighted by Dr Gustavo Porpino from Embrapa in his presentation, which introduced the audience to the diverse activities conducted in Brazil. The Cities and Food project supports a city network on urban food policies connecting circular urban food system approaches which fight both hunger and FLW in a systematic way. The keynote speeches were concluded by the research results found by Sharon Mada from the Thünen Institute of Market Analysis, who presented her findings regarding the quantity and composition of as well as reasons for FLW in low-income households in a city district in Harare, Zimbabwe. In her multi-method approach, she applied waste composition analysis, kitchen diary surveys as well as face-to-face questionnaires which provided a precise insight into framework conditions. The staple food sadza turned out to be the food most frequently thrown away.
The interactive poll during the panel showed that some of the participants already had experience in organising public information events to raise awareness of FLW or cooking workshops. Food sharing platforms, food bank activities, community gardens, composting facilities as well as upcycling of surplus foods were suggested by the audience as options to improve a circular urban food system. Bread, fruit and vegetables, coffee and milk were identified as possible candidates for the most frequently thrown-away food in their own home countries.
The lively discussion showed the participants’ great interest in concrete activities and the scalability of measures for different regions, which can be summarised by the tagline “Think globally, act locally”. Further information on the Collaboration Initiative FLW and its activities with partners, including the presentations from this expert panel, can be found at: https://www.macs-g20.org/about-macs/macs-activities/collaboration-initiative-on-food-losses-food-waste-launched-at-macs-g20.