Study: FAO Assesses Food Waste Impacts on Land, Climate, Water and Biodiversity by FAO (11 Sep 2013)

FAO Assesses Food Waste Impacts on Land, Climate, Water and Biodiversity

11 September 2013: The Food and Agriculture of the UN (FAO) has released a study documenting the environmental impacts of global food wastage as well as its direct economic impacts, which it reports add up to $750 billion annually.

The study provides a global account of the environmental footprint of food wastage (both food loss and food waste) along the food supply chain, focusing on impacts on climate, water, land and biodiversity. It includes a tool-kit that documents how food loss and waste can be reduced. FAO stresses the moral issue of 870 million people going hungry while 1/3 of all food produced goes to waste.

The study indicates that food waste is responsible for 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making food wastage rank as the third top emitter, after the US and China. It notes that 54% of wastage occurs during production, post-harvest handling and storage, and 46% of wastage occurs during processing, distribution and consumption, with production losses occurring most in developing countries, and consumption losses highest in high and middle income countries.

Hotspots of food wastage identified in the report are: wastage of cereals in Asia, with impacts on carbon, blue water and arable land; wastage of meat in high income regions and Latin America; fruit wastage with blue water impacts in Asia, Latin America, and Europe; and vegetables wastage in industrialized Asia, Europe, and South and South East Asia, with a high carbon footprint.

The study calls for reducing food wastage through better planning and addressing post-harvest loss, as well as by finding secondary markets and diverting excess food to livestock feed. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is a partner of the FAO in the Think Eat Save-Reduce Your Foodprint campaign. 

[UNEP Press Release] [FAO Press Release] [UN News] 

[Publication: Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources] [UN Press Release]

For more information: 
http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/fao-assesses-food-waste-impacts-on-land-climate-water-and-biodiversity/214724/

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Publications: FAO Outlines Strategies for Livestock Production Emissions Mitigation (12 Jun 2013)

News

FAO Outlines Strategies for Livestock Production Emissions Mitigation

12 June 2013: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has released a report on technical options for the mitigation of non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions livestock production.

The report, titled 'Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Livestock Production: A Review of Technical Options for non-CO2 Emissions,' provides a review of over 900 publications focusing on nutritional and manure management strategies to reduce emissions of non-carbon dioxide GHGs in livestock production, such as methane (enteric or from manure) and nitrous oxide.

Based on this review, the report provides options for mitigation through feeding management, manure management, and enhancement of animal productivity. It also provides specific recommendations for different management systems. [FAO Press Release] [Publication: Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Livestock Production: A Review of Technical Options for non-CO2 Emissions]

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For more information: 

http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/fao-outlines-strategies-for-livestock-production-emissions-mitigation/206665/

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Publications: FAO Statistical Yearbook Highlights Food Production’s GHG Emissions (19 Jun 2013)

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News

FAO Statistical Yearbook Highlights Food Production’s GHG Emissions

19 June 2013: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has released its Statistical Yearbook for 2013, which provides a lens into agriculture's contribution to climate change, natural resource management, and food security.

The Yearbook covers the following topics: capital and investment; climate change; food availability; food production and trade; food prices; hunger and malnutrition; the consequences of political instability and natural- and human-induced disasters on food security; the state of the agricultural resource base and sustainability; and environmental impacts.

It notes that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the agriculture sector have grown 1.6% per year since 2000, equivalent to 10% of anthropogenic emissions. It indicates that livestock and fertilizer are the two greatest contributors to emissions in the sector.

The Yearbook also highlights that 12% of the global population was undernourished in 2010-2012, and that global crop production has tripled over the past 50 years. It further underscores the increase in agricultural research and development investments. [Publication: FAO Statistical Yearbook 2013] [FAO Press Release]

For more information: 

http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/fao-statistical-yearbook-highlights-food-productions-ghg-emissions/206651/

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