There is a global target (Sustainable Development Goal 12.3) to half food waste and reduce food loss by 2030. While there are many shared challenges in value chains across the world, each country’s food system is unique. To achieve the global goal, countries and businesses need to step up to the plate and develop local programmes to dramatically slash food loss and waste from farm to fork. Country offices across the WWF network are working with partners to do exactly this. This International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, we highlight just a few of the different programmes we’re running to help contribute to a sustainable and waste-free future!
Philippines
300,000 tonnes of food is wasted in the Philippines every year, and yet 2.5 million people in the country go hungry. The city of Manila alone generates 2,175 tons of food waste daily. WWF-Philippines launched Soilmate to keep food waste out of landfill (where it releases methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas), make composting more accessible and to build a circular economy where nutrients from uneaten food go back into food production.
Kenya
Earlier this year, WWF-Kenya worked with the local community in the Naivasha Basin to create a new marketplace that allows farmers to sell ingredients locally and avoid the high levels of food loss they suffer when transporting foods to cities. Naivasha Greens is also the country’s first sustainably certified fruit and vegetable shop - all farmers supplying the shop use nature-positive production practices, while the shop is powered with renewable energy.
Colombia
WWF-Colombia conducted research that found 80.8% of people in Colombia are strongly influenced by how food looks when making purchases. To ensure ugly foods don’t go to waste, and that actions are taken across kitchens and supply chains, the team works with chefs and restaurants across the country. In this video, Colombian journalist and presenter Iván Lalinde speaks to chefs in the touristic town of Villa de Leyva to learn more about how they fight food waste.
Brazil
A partnership between WWF-Brasil and Ambev, Projeto Bacias & Florestas is helping the community in the Rio das Velhas Basin region to enhance the Urban Community Gardens of Sete Lagoas. Alongside other nature-positive production practices, the urban farmers are composting with food waste. Most importantly, by shortening the supply chain and providing food for their community, the urban farmers are avoiding losses often encountered in more lengthy chains.
Pakistan
The agriculture industry in Pakistan contributes 18.9% of the country’s total GDP and takes up 30 - 40% of the total labour force. Unfortunately, the country has yet to develop a food waste management system and 40% of the food produced goes to waste. This short documentary from WWF-Pakistan explores the gaps in the national food production system and the inefficiencies that need to be addressed.
Mexico
WWF-Mexico conducts ongoing awareness campaigns for the general public, including several targeted at youths and schools. In this example, Diego goes on a journey to learn about the consequences of his food waste habits and the importance of making conscious decisions and actions to reduce the food loss and waste problem and help mitigate climate change.
US
WWF-US runs programmes in kitchens across the country to implement robust measurement programmes that identify which types of food are wasted and where. With this information, chefs can take action to cut waste - through better storage, changed menus, improved procurement and so on. In this example, Chef John and his team from Sodexo are building a waste-free kitchen in a hospital kitchen in North Carolina.
For more videos check out the full playlist here.
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