Skip to main content
Knowledge4Policy
Knowledge for policy

Supporting policy with scientific evidence

We mobilise people and resources to create, curate, make sense of and use knowledge to inform policymaking across Europe.

Reducing food losses in developing countries: Simple technological solutions, complex adoption along supply chains

  • Publication | 2019

The global food system is malfunctioning, leaving large segments of the population undernourished or malnourished, and causing large environmental damage. Food losses in the production, processing and marketing parts of the food systems are part of the problem. Food wasting at the retail, household and restaurant levels is a serious problem too. The analyses and calls for action in this volume are motivated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 12, i.e. Ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns, and specifically, “By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses”. This goal is very much in line with the Encyclical Laudato Si’, where Pope Francis calls for changes to overcome the “throwaway culture”. Food Loss and Waste (FLAW) is a moral issue because of the adverse effects on people and our planet. It is detrimental to the planet due to greenhouse gas emissions and the wasting of the water and land used as inputs, and to people – the poor in particular – whose labor is squandered and whose livelihoods are compromised when FLAW occurs.

Related reading
PUBLICATION | 29 Jun 2026
OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook
The Agricultural Outlook is a collaborative effort of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. It brings together the commodity, policy...
PUBLICATION | 16 Jun 2026
The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture
Published biennially, this is a detailed situation report on matters ranging from global aquatic resources to the trade in seafood products or the extent of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Privacy statements, terms and conditions.
You will be directed to the EU Login website where you can login/register as a user. Once connected, your credentials (First name, last name, username, email) will be registered in Knowledge4policy as part of your profile, which will allow you to get involved in all Knowledge4policy communities (help is available).

You are about to navigate to an external website. Please note that we are not responsible for its content.