Copenhagen, 30 August 2018: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that one-third of all food produced annually for human consumption in the world is lost or wasted. In Indonesia, a country of 260 million people, the equivalent of 300 kilograms (660 pounds) per person is wasted, largely before fruits, vegetables, and grains reach consumers. The agricultural sector represents about a third of total employment in Indonesia. More than 90 percent of farming is by small family farmers who would be the primary beneficiaries of food loss saving.
P4G, the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals Initiative, has awarded USD 100,000 to the Food Loss and Waste Action Partnership, led by the Food and Land Use Coalition, to build a cross-sector program to reduce food loss and waste in Indonesia by 50 percent by 2030. Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world with 11 percent of the population still living below the national poverty line.
“This partnership seeks to improve the efficiency of the farm to consumer food supply chain by reducing losses and waste. WBCSD coordinates collaboration with businesses in the food and agriculture sector to bring about benefits throughout the value chain: farmers as they can sell more of the food they grow, food companies whose efficiency will increase, consumers who can save money and society at large by seeing increased food security” said Peter Bakker, President and CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), which leads the Food and Land Use Coalition’s work on developing and delivering market-based business solutions.
The Coalition will use the P4G funding to bring together government ministries, private sector and civil society partners to develop a plan of action to reduce food loss and waste in Indonesia leveraging success with similar approaches in the Netherlands, the UK and the US. The Coalition will support partner companies with strategies and practices to implement better storage technologies, improve shipping and distribution and train staff to help them meet their food loss and waste targets.
P4G, launched in January, seeks to identify and incubate public-private partnership that present innovative solutions in food and agriculture, water, clean energy, sustainable cities and circular economy for projects in developing countries. Following a global competition that generated 450 submissions, P4G selected 24 partnerships as finalists. The Food Loss and Waste Action Partnership is one of 11 partnerships to receive its 2018 start-up award.
“The Food and Land Use Coalition presented a compelling partnership that brings together important organizations and business partners to develop a food loss and waste initiative in Indonesia that we want to actively support and see replicated in other developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America,” said P4G Global Director Ian de Cruz.
The Coalition is supported by a unique combination of partners, including the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the World Resources Institute and the New Climate Economy. The Coalition expects to involve global agri-food companies with operations in Indonesia to join Olam, the leading member of WBCSD’s working group on food loss and waste in the coalition, such as, Yara, Rabobank and Syngenta.
