ROME, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Reducing food loss and waste can help transform agrifood systems, conserve natural resources and ease pressure on forests, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Qu Dongyu said Tuesday.
Qu made the remarks at a joint FAO-UN Environment Programme (UNEP) event at FAO headquarters in Rome marking the seventh International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.
According to FAO, 13.4 percent of food produced globally is lost after harvest and before reaching retail, while 19 percent of food available to consumers is wasted at the retail, food service and household levels.
Food loss and waste also means a waste of the land, water and other resources used to produce food. FAO estimates that about 1.4 billion hectares of land are used to produce food that is ultimately never consumed.
As agricultural expansion remains the leading driver of deforestation globally, reducing food loss and waste could help make better use of existing agricultural land and reduce pressure on forests, FAO said.
"To protect forests, we must transform agrifood systems; to transform agrifood systems, we must reduce food loss and waste, and by reducing food loss and waste, we help safeguard forests," Qu said.
Food loss and waste account for around 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. When discarded food decomposes, particularly in landfills under anaerobic conditions, it also produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Despite international commitments, the world has made no apparent progress in reducing food losses since 2015 and remains off track to meet Sustainable Development Goal target 12.3, which aims to halve per capita food waste at retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030.
At the event, FAO also released an interactive Food Loss Index data map, presenting food loss estimates for 2024 at the subregional and regional levels.
FAO said the tool will improve access to food loss data and support evidence-based policies and efforts to reduce losses across agrifood systems.
