INTERNATIONAL NEWS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Helping the global community to
step up action to reduce food loss
By the Food and Agricultural Organisation
The FAO unveiled a platform to help
accelerate action on reducing food
loss and waste, gearing up for the
first International Day of Awareness of
Food Loss and Waste at the end of
September 2020.
The Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
has unveiled a comprehensive platform
to help the global community step up
action to reduce food loss and waste
as the UN agency and partners call for
increased efforts and geared up for
the International Day of Awareness of
Food Loss and Waste – that was marked
for the first time on 29 September 2020.
The Technical Platform on the
Measurement and Reduction of
Food Loss and Waste brings together
information on measurement, reduction,
policies, alliances, actions and examples
of successful models applied to reduce
food loss and waste across the globe.
"Wasting food means wasting
scarce natural resources, increasing
climate change impacts and missing
the opportunity to feed a growing
population in the future," said FAO
Director-General QU Dongyu at the
launch of the platform.
The event also provided an
opportunity to raise awareness about
the upcoming International Day of
Awareness of Food Loss and Waste,
which aims to sharpen focus on the need
to reduce food loss and waste, and how
doing so can contribute to sustainable
development.
The FAO chief urged the public and
the private sectors and individuals to
promote, harness and scale-up policies,
innovation and technologies to reduce
food loss and waste, and ensure that the
first international day will be meaningful
and influential.
He was joined in his call for greater
efforts to reduce food loss and waste
- especially at a time when Covid-19
further exposed the vulnerabilities of and
need for more resilient food systems – by
representatives of a range of partner
organisations and FAO member states.
"Fool loss and waste is a sign of food
systems in distress," said Lawrence
Lowy Institute
Drying food is one way of preservation – here, tomatoes are being dried in large scale in Egypt.
Haddad, Executive Director of The Global
Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN),
whilst pointing out that "nutritious foods
are the most perishable, and hence, the
most vulnerable to loss. Not only food
is being lost but also food safety and
nutrition are being lost as well”.
“Addressing food loss and waste with
accurate information and evidence at
the country level is an attempt to create
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www.coldlinkafrica.co.za COLD LINK AFRICA • October 2020