A global consortium will bring together experts from industry, academia and not-for-profit to address the growing issue of food loss and waste which, according to the FAO, costs around $940 billion per year.
The Consortium for Innovation in Post-Harvest Loss and Food Waste Reduction, led by The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), The Rockefeller Foundation and Iowa State University, will help farmers optimize food production practices. This, says FFAR’s executive director Sally Rockey, is “critical for ensuring that farmers are profitable, food is plentiful and accessible, and the environment is preserved.”
More than 40 percent of fruit and vegetables in developing countries, many of which are exported to the United States, spoil before they are consumed. This has repercussions for farmers, who aren’t compensated for their products; for consumers, who miss out on these popular foods, and also for the environment as precious resources are used to produce foods that then go to waste.
Over the next three years, the Consortium will provide farmers with strategies and technologies to help them link their crop supply more closely with market demand. It will do so by adopting a model developed by The Rockefeller Foundation for the African market, which has reduced food loss by between 20 – 30 percent since 2016.