Over 1 billion tonnes more food being wasted than previously estimated, contributing 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions

• New WWF and Tesco report shows 1.2 billion tonnes of food is lost on farms, on top of the 931 million tonnes wasted at retail and consumption¹
• Approximately 40% of all the food grown goes uneaten
• To reduce on-farm loss, WWF and Tesco call on global governments and food industry to adopt Target-Measure-Act approach

GLAND, SWITZERLAND, 21 July 2021 – Today, WWF and Tesco publish Driven to Waste, a new report that quantifies the total amount of food lost on farms globally, revealing an estimated 2.5 billion tonnes of food² goes uneaten around the world each year. That is an increase of approximately 1.2 billion tonnes on the established estimates of 1.3 billion tonnes wasted each year. These new estimates indicate that of all the food grown, approximately 40 per cent goes uneaten, which is higher than the previously estimated figure of 33% ³.

Driven to Waste is the first quantification of total on-farm food losses since 2011. When combined with updated data on loss in supply chains and waste at retail and consumption, we have a clearer picture of the scale of food loss and waste from farm to fork that demonstrates for the first time how imperative it is that this stage is no longer overlooked in efforts to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Producing food uses a huge amount of land, water and energy, so wasted food significantly impacts climate change – previous estimates suggest that food waste accounts for 8% of greenhouse gases (GHG). Driven to Waste’s new data indicate that the numbers are even more substantial, pointing to a contribution of approximately 10% of all GHG emissions. This is the equivalent of nearly twice the annual emissions produced by all the cars driven in the US and Europe. 

Compounding the pressure from continued global agricultural resource-use expansion, 4.4 million km2 of agricultural land and 760km3 of water are used to produce the 1.2 billion tonnes of food that are lost before, during and after harvest or diverted to other uses such as animal feed and biofuel. This equates to a landmass larger than the Indian subcontinent and water volume equivalent to 304 million Olympic swimming pools - and this does not include the additional resources used to produce food that is wasted further down the supply chain.

Crucially, in exploring the contributory factors to food loss, Driven to Waste overturns a long-held belief that food loss on farms is solely an issue in less affluent regions with lower levels of industrialization. The report shows that per capita farm-stage losses are generally higher in industrialized regions. Despite having higher on-farm mechanization and only 37% of the global population, high- and middle- income countries of Europe, North America and Industrialized Asia contribute 58% of global harvest waste⁴.

“We have known for years that food loss and waste is a huge problem that can be minimised, which in turn could reduce the impact of food systems on nature and climate. This report shows us the problem is likely bigger than we had thought,” said Pete Pearson, Global Food Loss and Waste Initiative Lead, WWF. “Over 50% of food that goes uneaten is lost on farms, but this is not just an issue in developing regions. Driven to Waste shows us more food is lost on farms per capita in very advanced supply chains like the US and Europe. Food loss and waste, and on-farm food loss, is a global problem.”

Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 speaks specifically to food loss and waste but it only sets a measurable target to halve food waste (at the retail and consumption end) by 2030. Goals to reduce food loss refer only to post-harvest but do not include measurable targets. Although several countries are beginning to develop action plans to tackle food loss and waste, they are often concentrated in the latter stage of the supply chain, largely because the scale and severity of the problem on farms has not previously been fully appreciated.

Aligned with the tried and tested Champions 12.3 framework of Target-Measure-Act, Driven to Waste now provides a pathway for stakeholders across global food systems to tackle food loss and waste, particularly on farms, an area that to date has been overlooked and consistently remains unmeasured.

Ken Murphy, CEO of Tesco said: “As an industry we must increase our efforts to tackle the issue of food loss and waste throughout the entire supply chain. At Tesco, we publish food waste data for every one of the markets we operate in and have been working with 71 of our largest global suppliers to reduce food waste and have already reported a reduction of more than 40%, when compared to our 2016/17 baseline. Using the Target-Measure-Act framework, we are continuously taking action, from broadening our specs and selling wonky veg in our Perfectly Imperfect range, to donating surplus farm produce to schools and communities in Kenya. This year several of our suppliers will report on their own farm food loss and waste for the first time, helping us to tackle waste in the earliest parts of the supply chain.”   

To date, only 11 of the 192 national climate plans, or around 5%, submitted as part of the Paris Agreement mention food loss and waste. The majority of these 11 plans come from African nations tackling post-harvest losses. Taking a more holistic view and tackling losses at all stages on farms will help mitigate climate change, reduce pressure to convert nature, and help achieve food security. Driven to Waste finds that food is lost on farms for a variety of reasons, including controllable factors and human decisions.

“Driven to Waste makes it clear that providing access to technology and training on farms is not enough; decisions made further down the supply chain by business and governments have a significant impact on the levels of food lost or wasted on farms,” said Lilly Da Gama, Food Loss and Waste Programme Manager at WWF-UK and one of the reports lead authors. “To achieve a meaningful reduction, national governments and market actors must take action to support farmers across the world and commit to halving food waste across all stages of the supply chain. Current policies are not ambitious enough.”

- Ends –

For more information, please contact: news@wwfint.org

Download the report and assets here (from 21 July 2021)

Notes to the Editor:

REFERENCES

1 - United Nations Environment Programme (2021). Food Waste Index Report 2021. Nairobi.

2 - FAO (2011). Global Food Losses And Food Waste: Extent, Causes and Prevention. Rome. 

3 - This is an indicative estimate based on the 1.2 billion tonnes of food loss on farms calculated within the Driven to Waste report, the 931 million tonnes wasted in retail, food service and consumer homes, and calculations to estimate losses occurring in the post farmgate transport, storage, manufacturing and processing stages. 

To calculate estimated losses occurring in the post farmgate transport, storage, manufacturing and processing stages, the farm stage losses from the Driven to Waste research (1.2 billion tonnes) were split into the post-harvest losses and in field losses and then, using the percentage of post-harvest losses on farm and in the supply chain provided in the FAO State of Food & Agriculture report (2019), post-harvest losses on farm were subtracted from FAO 2019’s estimate of post-harvest losses up to but not including retail. These figures were derived from the appropriate FAOSTAT production numbers. This created an estimate of 436 million tonnes for losses occurring in the post farmgate transport, storage, manufacturing and processing stages. This figure will vary depending on calculation method and assumptions made. 

4 - 58% of global harvest waste equates to 368 million tonnes. By comparison, low-income countries with 63% of the population have a 54% share of global post-harvest farm-stage waste (291 million tonnes).

DRIVEN TO WASTE AND THE FAO FOOD LOSS INDEX

The FAO and UNEP Food Loss and Waste Indexes are based on a seven-stage food supply chain, from cultivation to consumption. However, the Food Loss Index only includes farm-level loss post-harvest, resulting in the underestimation of the scale, impact and importance of farm stage food waste. By compiling over 2,000 farm stage food loss and waste data points for different commodities and regions, WWF provides additional data, the first since 2011 FAO estimates to consider both harvest and post- harvest waste, to give a clearer picture of the scale and severity of food loss and waste. 

“TARGET-MEASURE-ACT” FRAMEWORK

The “Target-Measure-Act” framework is endorsed by the Champions 12.3 coalition of executives from governments, businesses, international organizations, research institutions, farmer groups, and civil society dedicated to inspiring ambition, mobilizing action, and accelerating progress toward halving food waste and reducing food loss. The three-step approach is a proven way to achieve rapid results:

• Target - Targets set ambition, and ambition motivates action. Governments and companies should adopt explicit targets to reduce food loss and waste by 50% from farm to fork. 
• Measure - The old adage “what gets measured gets managed” is true for food loss and waste, as well. Governments and companies should measure their food loss and waste to identify the “hot spots” needing action, publish the results to inspire others, and monitor to track progress over time. 
• Act - In the end, action is what ultimately matters. Based on information gathered from measurement, governments and companies should develop and implement strategies for tackling their hot spots of food loss and waste, ranging from on-farm food losses to household food waste and everything in between. National public-private partnerships can be an effective way to take collaborative action, find pragmatic policies and practices, and engage everyone from farmers to consumers in a shared mission.  

About WWF

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