Picture: Hon. Dr Mahendra Reddy addresses the opening ceremony of the International conference on Food loss and Waste.

Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment Hon. Dr. Mahendra Reddy addressed the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Food Loss and Wastage where he stressed the importance of securing the world’s food systems.

While addressing the Conference via Zoom during the opening ceremony this evening, Minister Reddy said food loss and waste continued to be a major issue in the Asia and Pacific region, which needed more coordinated, strategic actions to address its impact on climate change, food security and the region’s overall economy.

“Food losses globally can be managed and reversed. Impact of natural resources indicated that more than 50% of waste comes from production, post-harvest handling and storage phase and the remaining occurred during processing, distribution and consumption.

Food loss and waste is the third biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and burden waste management systems and worsens food insecurity (UN Environment Program 2021, Food Waste Index Report). Globally, food losses and food waste represents nearly a quarter of all water used in agricultural production and cost around USD940 billion in economic losses.

Consequently, Minister Reddy emphasized the findings in the FAO Report – Food Wastage Footprint, which had identified a pattern in food waste at the global level.

“The report showed that middle and higher-income regions experienced greater food loss at retail and consumer level while for developed countries, food loss occurred during the production phase. It identified that the greater the food waste in the later stages, the greater its environmental impact,” he said.

Speaking on Fiji’s local context and approach to reducing food loss and wastage, Hon. Reddy highlighted current food security programmes, like the Home Gardening initiative, which was being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture as a means to provide a consistent supply of fresh food to its populace while also minimizing food loss and wastage, as the distance from the farm to the fork was very minimal.

He highlighted that to achieve the set targets of reducing food loss and wastage by 2030 as set under Sustainable Development Goal 12, it required a complete behavioural change on the part of the consumer, to consumer responsibly for the betterment of the environment.

“We must learn to Love Food, Hate Waste and Save money. When we learn to appreciate food, we are less likely to waste it. Though the amount of food waste is alarming, we can all work together to overcome the amount of food wasted globally.

“Only then can we reduce food loss and waste by 2030 and have a sustainable food system for future generations,” said Minister Reddy.

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