UoN Food Loss Preliminary Report

8/9/2019 UoN Food Loss Preliminary Report

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FUNDED BY A GRANT FROM

Preliminary Report

C. G. Winkworth-Smith, W. Morgan

and T. J. Foster

September 2014

THE IMPACT OF REDUCING

FOOD LOSS IN THEGLOBAL COLD CHAIN

CRC3656-ReportCoverFINAL.indd 1 11/17/14 8:45 AM


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University of Nottingham 2 September 2014


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4.8.1 Charity Food Banks............................................................................................ 18

4.8.2 Composting........................................................................................................ 18

4.8.3 Animal Feed....................................................................................................... 18

4.8.4 Anaerobic digestion/renewable energy............................................................ 195. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 20

6. References ....................................................................................................................... 21

Appendix 1. Stage 1 survey questions ............................................................................... 22

Appendix 2. Questionnaire responders............................................................................. 23

Appendix 3. Further comments on infrastructure............................................................. 24

Appendix 4. Post-harvest cassava losses ........................................................................... 25

Appendix 5. Post-harvest loss in Kenya ............................................................................. 26


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1. Executive summary

While almost a billion people are undernourished worldwide, a third of all food produced

globally is lost or wasted. If food loss could be reduced, many more people could be fed. To

identify the main causes of food loss around the world we are in the process of contactingexperts from different geographical regions and areas of expertise. We have focussed

primarily on the supply chain of perishable foods from harvest to the point of supply to

consumers. This report outlines our initial findings from the survey responses.

Food waste generally relates to behavioural issues and is often defined as edible food that

has been unutilised as a result of human action or inaction. Food loss on the other hand is

food that has decreased in quality and is no longer fit for human consumption due to

inadequate supply chain systems. In developing countries, the lack of access to cold chain

systems and reliable energy sources required to power them, results in large post-harvestlosses (10-50% food loss). Other causes of food loss include poor harvesting practices, poor

supply chain management and insufficient or inappropriate regulations. In developed

countries where there are already advanced cold chain systems in place, food waste, which

is generally related to behavioural issues where edible food has been unutilised and

subsequently thrown away, is a much larger issue, for example, one quarter of the items in

the average American refrigerator right now will go in the trash. However, there are also

losses caused by poor temperature management, improper handling, bad retailer practices

(such as rejection of goods due to cosmetic defects) and the lack of skilled employees.

Perishable food losses in both developed and developing countries could be reduced by

improving infrastructure, increased investment in the cold chain, improved regulations,

better forecasting and technological innovations. Behavioural changes are also needed for

both retailers and consumers which could be brought about by changes in governmental

policy and improved education and training. The major impacts of reducing food loss would

be to lower levels of global food insecurity (for example, by reducing food loss in the USA

by 15% there would be enough food to feed more than 25 million Americans), a reduction

in environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions or pressure on land use for

farming and lower food prices. Although much of the food loss can be reduced it isimportant to fully utilise any unavoidable food loss. Any food that is still edible but no

longer able to be sold to consumers should go to charity food banks but there needs to be

better integration with the for profit sector to minimise the cost of food recovery. Other

ways of utilising food loss include composting, the production of animal feed or power

generation through anaerobic digestion. This will save money and reduce the amount of

food that currently goes to landfill.

As the survey progresses we hope to further investigate the causes of perishable food

loss and identify solutions to reduce perishable food loss globally.


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There have been some responders that have declined to complete the survey as they

have felt they were unable to answer the questions.

Table 1. The number of people contacted for the first phase of the survey as of 29.08.14

Questionnairessent out Completed andreturned Declined Pending

Europe 17 4 3 10

Middle East 1 0 0 1

Africa 3 1 0 2

Asia 2 2 0 0

N America 9 5 0 4

Latin America 0 0 0 0

Global 21 4 3 14

Total 53 16 6 31

Commercial 19 7 4 8

Academia 16 3 1 12

Government 3 0 0 3

NGO 15 6 1 9Total 53 16 6 31

4. Initial findings

4.1 Food Loss vs Food Waste

Food waste generally relates to behavioural issues and is often defined as edible food

that has been unutilised as a result of human action or inaction (Buzby and Hyman,

2012). Food loss on the other hand is food that has decreased in quality and is no longer

fit for human consumption due to inadequate supply chain systems.

However, these definitions often do not adequately describe the complexity of why, how

and where food is lost in different countries:

We should be careful about the word lost. In most developing countries, even if food is not

ultimately consumed by humans in the post farm gate supply chain (SC), it is consumed by

animals or processed.(Marc Sadler, World Bank).

It may therefore be better to delineate between that which is lost as a consequence oftransport, SC actions and that which is lost due to expiry as a consequence of quality or

food safety regulations from points of retail sale.(Marc Sadler, World Bank).

A further distinction that can be made is between physical and economic losses (DiegoNaziri, University of Greenwich)

Physical loss (PL) is something that disappears from the chain, thrown away

(regardless of whether this in unavoidable or not see behavioural issues)


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Economic loss (EL) is something that incurs some level of damage (e.g. partially

spoiled or broken cassava root) that determines a price discount or processing into

lower value product.

4.2 How much food is lost or wasted?

4.2.1 Developing countries

There is very little data on food waste in the developing world. The figures for food loss are

hard to quantify and are dependent on the types of foods and the countries where they are

produced but estimates are in the range of 20-50% (Kader, 2012).

In Sub Saharan Africa, 36% of food harvested is lost, equating to an average 167

kg/cap per year where only 7 kg is at the consumer level. The losses mainly occur atharvest: 12.5%, post-harvest 12.7%, processing and packaging 4.5%, distribution

4.6% (FAO, 2013b).

Asia-Pacific region 15-50% of food crops are lost (FAO, 2013a).

South Asia = 8-40% (Acedo and Easdown, 2014)

o India = 30% (vegetables and fruits)

o Bangladesh = 8-25%

o Nepal = 8-33%

o Pakistan = 15-40%

o Sri Lanka = 16-40% (vegetables and fruits)

Southeast Asia = 9-25% (Weinberger et al., 2008)

o Cambodia = 16-25%

o Laos = 9-17%

o Vietnam = 18-19%

Dr Diego Naziri (University of Greenwich) and his team have investigated cassava losses indifferent developing countries. They have:

1. Broken down the value chains in sub-value chains (e.g. cassava starch, cassava chips,

etc.),2. By means of value chain analyses we have assessed the magnitude of PL at 4 stages

of the chain: on farm; processing; transport trading and handling; distribution retail

and consumption

3. Assessed the magnitude of EL by looking at the last stage of the chain when the root

is still traded fresh and analysed the price setting mechanism in order to quantify the

price discount

4. Calculated the monetary impact of physical and economic post-harvest loss (PHL)


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From their analysis they have found differences in the PHL of cassava in different countries:

Ghana: PL: 1.8 mln t/yr (12.5% of annual production), mostly at the last stage of the

value chain (VC); monetary impact: USD 390mln/yr. EL: 2.4 mln t/yr; monetary

impact: USD 130mln/yr.

South-West Nigeria: PL: 480k t/yr (7% of annual production), mostly at processing

sites; monetary impact: USD 31mln/yr. EL: 1 mln t/yr; monetary impact: USD

21mln/yr.

Thailand: PL: 500k t/yr (2% of annual production), mostly on farm; monetary impact:

USD 46mln/yr. EL: 1.2 mln t/yr; monetary impact: USD 48mln/yr.

Vietnam: PL: 300k t/yr (3% of annual production), mostly at processing sites;

monetary impact: USD 21mln/yr. EL: 2.7 mln t/yr; monetary impact: USD 36mln/yr.

4.2.2 Developed Countries

In developed countries, due to more advanced cold chain systems, food wastage is a far

bigger problem and is a behavioural rather than infrastructure issue. Due to the varying

definitions of food loss and food waste it is difficult to provide figures just relating to

either loss or waste.

4.2.2.1 USA

A recent Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study done for Feeding America, estimated

from field to manufacturer there is "50B lbs of potentially recoverable waste and in

local markets there is "20B lbs of potentially recoverable waste (figures include all

food loss and waste). (Daniel Krohm, Feeding America)

In 2010, an estimated 31% or 133 billion pounds of the 430 billion pounds of food

produced was not available for human consumption at the retail and consumer

levels. This amount of loss totalled an estimated $161.6 billion, as purchased at

retail prices. 141 trillion calories per year, or 1,249 calories per capita per day, in

the food supply in 2010 went uneaten (Buzby et al., 2014).

The majority of this waste ends up in landfill (Buzby and Hyman, 2012).

In the USA, consumers throw away approximately 25% of all the food and drinks

that consumers buy, either due to spoilage or cooking or serving too much arethrown away (Gunders, 2012).

One quarter of the items in the average American refrigerator right now will go in

the trash, according to the NRDC (Gunders, 2012)

In the U.S. people have become preoccupied with the aesthetics of food, an

estimated 20% of edible- but not necessarily pretty-fruits and vegetables go to

waste (Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC))

20-30 % of quality loss is due to improper temperature and atmosphere in a long

and complex perishable cold chain lost sales due to waste and spoils and costly

labor to remove unsaleable product. (Joan Rosen, JC Rosen Resources)


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The top three food groups in terms of the value of food loss at these levels are:

meat, poultry, and fish (41%); vegetables (17%); and dairy products (14%) (US

Department of Agricultures Economic Research Services Loss-Adjusted Food

Availability data)

Per household (2.4 persons) waste at the consumer level was $936/year or$2.56/day (Buzby and Hyman, 2012)

4.2.2.2 Europe

France: In collective catering, 100g per meal is wasted (and about 50g lost)

(ADEME, 2011).

Germany: 10,970,000 tons 61% households, 17% industrial production, 17% large

scale consumers, 5% retail (Kranert, 2012)

o In the meat chain around 12-22% is lost or wasted (Rossaint and

Kreyenschmidt, 2014). See Table 2 for poultry losses.Table 2. Wastage in the fresh poultry chain (catering not included) (Rossaint and Kreyenschmidt,

2014).

Processing Logistics Wholesaler Logistic Retailer Consumer Total

Waste (%) 0.5 1 1 1 2.5 6 12

UK: 14,391,000 tons manufacturing: 2,591,000 tons, households: 8,300,000 tons,

others: 3,500.000 tons (Quested and Johnson, 2009)

Austria: In the food industry some 1.25 million tonnes of food residues areestimated to be generated in the food processing industry annually (Reisinger et al.,

2012). Of these about 200,000 tonnes are treated as waste (Umweltbundesamt

estimates). The rest seems to be used as feed. Some 85,000 tonnes may be

preventable annually (Reisinger et al., 2012).

o Table 3 shows an estimation of the annual Austrian food waste generation in

the services sectors and during final consumption together with an estimation

of the preventable part. Roughly 50% of the food waste generated in the

services and consumption sectors are regarded as being preventable.

o The total amount of preventable food waste over the whole supply chainof Austria is estimated to lie at about 350,000 tonnes annually or at 42

kg/inhabitant annually.


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Please see Appendix 4 for a more detailed look at the post-harvest losses of cassava in

different developing countries and Appendix 5 for a detailed explanation for post-

harvest losses in Kenya.

4.3.2 Developed countries

In developed countries there are usually advanced cold chain systems in place. The majority

of food that goes unused is due to consumer waste. However, there are still substantial food

losses within the supply chain. The major causes of food loss are uncertainties in forecasting

demand and therefore overproduction and oversupply. Often this happens during the

change from one season to another when shoppers are changing their eating patterns or

when weather affects sales and consumption.

Daniel Krohm describes the food loss that Feeding America receives:

At the beginning of the supply chain, Feeding America receives a large amount (~600MMlbs) of produce loss from growers/packers/shippers. This loss is primarily due to over

production or product being out of spec.

At the end of the supply chain, Feeding America receives a large amount of perishable food

waste (produce, protein, dairy) from consumer facing retail outlets (~1,200MM lbs). This

retailer waste is driven by the traditional drivers of perishable shrink at retail,

unpredictability of demand, handling damage, etc.

Forecasting can also be a problem in collective catering, for instance, when too many meals

are prepared because the staff do not know how many guests/patients will be present each

day. There is also loss/waste due to incorrect portion sizes for different types of people (e.g.

the elderly).

There are further problems associated with:

Inconsistent cold chaino Poor temperature management (Raab et al., 2011)

o Breaks in the cold chain

Improper handling, including rotation

Long transportation times

Retailer practices.

o Penalty clauses levied on growers.

o Rejection of goods due to cosmetic defects

o Exclusive contracts

o Variation of purchase contract terms in last hours before supply

o 3 for 2 offers where consumers over buy

Lack of skilled employees (e.g. butchers who cut the meat incorrectly)

Lack of possibility to use the surplus food as feed or as donation


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4.4 How could food loss in the perishables supply chain be reduced?

4.4.1 Improved infrastructure

The storage of perishable goods depends not just on the storage facilities themselves but

also transport facilities, roads, bridges, electricity and water supplies and effectivedrainage and sanitation. It is crucial that storage facilities have access to affordable and

dependable energy. Road networks need to be improved, for instance turning rural roads

into all-weather roads.

4.4.2 Investment in the cold chain

In much of the developing world there is no cold chain. Affordable and efficient

cold storage facilities must be developed.

oIn Africa, charcoal coolers have been developed which use locally available

materials. Investment is needed which can be helped by public/private partnerships.

Reduced taxation of the cold chain and related energy equipment would make

cold chains more financially viable.

If a cold chain is already in place there must be strict adherence to food safety

regulations. If perishable food is kept at its optimum temperature for its entire

lifecycle food loss will be reduced.

4.4.3 Improved regulations

There need to be stronger links between food safety and actual perishability. Thiswould mean that food is still safe but there is a broader level of quality.

There needs to be improved labelling.

In developing countries, the transportation of foodstuff on open trucks should be

prohibited.

4.4.4 Better ordering systems

Better forecasting and more accurate ordering are needed. Many retailers have

implemented automated order practices based on previous sales at the store

level. This will help to reduce overproduction.

Better forecasting could also reduce loss with large scale consumers such as

hospitals only providing the number of meals necessary as well as greater

flexibility in portion size.

4.4.5 Charity food banks

Food that has passed its sell by date so cannot be sold by retailers is often still fit for human

consumption. Charity food banks, such as Feeding America, usually collect food from

retailers that have over ordered or manufacturers that have over produced. Similarly,

second chance food stores in disadvantaged neighbourhoods are being set up which sell


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food that is past its shelf date, but still within the window of being edible. However,

better integration with the for profit supply chain is needed to minimize the cost of

hunger relief food recovery.

4.4.6 Technology

Smart refrigerators that alert you to food thats about to go bad

Developing adaptable varieties of fruits and vegetables that have longer shelf lives

R&D to develop technologies or adapt and optimize existing technologies to suit

local situations

Improved shelf life models

4.4.7 Packaging innovations

Packaging that reduces condensation or the growth of bacteria will substantially reduce

food loss. Intelligent packaging must be implemented such as time temperatureindicators (TTI) which are devises or labels that show the accumulated time-temperature

history of food or other temperature sensitive products.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has developed a Super Bag that is able to

extent the germination life of seed for planting from 6 to 12 months, reduce live insects

to 1 insect/kg of grain without using insecticides and improves head rice recovery of

stored grain by 10%.

Figure 1. IRRI Super Bag. (source

http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/) 4.4.8 Training/education

Improve education at supply chain levels regarding how and why food is lost

Better handling practices

Stock rotation

Better operation and maintenance of storage facilities

Diligent temperature control

Improved positioning - e.g. avocados not besides tomatoes

4.4.9 Use ugly foodPromote appeal of imperfect produce Europe (Joan Rosen, JC Rosen Resources)


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Culinary Misfits a catering company in Berlin that uses only ugly vegetables Rewe Group Nonconformist produce Edeka Nobody is perfect U.K. Tesco encourage consumers to buy ugly or misshapen fruits & vegetables

(in response to recent national statistics that revealed that up to two-fifths ofproduce is wasted because it is ugly)

4.4.10 Food processing

Processing certain foods will extend their lifespan, for example, freezing, freeze drying or

canning. By processing food close to where it is produced will lower the need for a cold

chain. In times of excess, food that would otherwise be lost can be stored. In developing

regions where farmers are on a small scale there will be a need to organise farmers into

groups to ensure consistent production that will motivate investors to build processing

facilities.

4.4.11 Large retailer practices

Businesses should start by understanding the extent and opportunity of their own waste

streams and adopting best practices. For example, Stop and Shop was able to save an

estimated $100 million annually after an analysis of freshness, shrink, and customer

satisfaction in their perishables department. Other retailer practices that must be

improved include:

Banning of exclusive contracts

Supermarkets could be compelled to adhere to normal commercial practices Reduction of stock in house to reduce the percentage of stock going off One later for the price of two now There must also be improved supply chain connectivity between retailers/processors

and producers.

4.4.12 Behavioural changes

LeanPath of Portland Oregon: Data drives behavioural change....His

customers...have seen waste drop by 80% after installing his system. The system

works by weighing food that is to be tossed, and showing companies, in real time,

how much and what types of food are being wasted. (Joan Rosen, JC RosenResources)

4.4.13Farming practices

Food that is of insufficient quality for retailers but still edible is often left in fields to rot,

however, this food can be processed for other foods, for instance using imperfect fruits

to produce jams and jellies. There is need to engage specialists to educate farmers on

how to minimize these losses.


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4.5 What would be the financial cost of reducing food loss in the perishables

supply chain?

Many of the financial costs associated to reducing food loss are for infrastructure,

particularly in the developing world. It is highly dependent on country and product,

ranging from simple wooden/Styrofoam packaging for bulk transportation through to

complex and expensive freeze drying plants.(Marc Sadler, World Bank).

The financial cost will largely depend on the approach selected. Below are the costs of

different approaches in Kenya (Sammy Kariuki, Tymax):

Capacity Building: A consultant would charge between USD 300 to USD 450 totrain a maximum of 30 people per day

Cold storage facilities: A charcoal cooler unit would cost from about USD 125 toas high as USD 2,000, a refrigerated container would cost USD 7,500 while a coldroom would cost from about USD 20,000 onward

Value addition: A simple value addition unit would cost from USD 250 (e.g.homemade juice) and a modern value addition unit that would accommodatehuge volumes costs from USD 200,000 and above

Roads: The cost would vary depending on the type selected for example tarmacwould cost USD 375,000 to 750,000 per km

There are also costs associated with charitable food donations:

The cost of perishable food recovery for the Feeding America network varies from $0/lb

to $.25/lb. The network spends >$800MM lbs to move ~4B lbs of food annually. To close

the entire domestic meal gap by scaling the existing hunger relief model, it would take

~$1.5B incremental annually.(Daniel Krohm, Feeding America)

I recently met with a stone fruit packer who evaluated the cost of packing off-grade fruit

for food banks instead of diverting it to culls for cattle feed. Until they can get to break-

even it is not financially feasible, currently it would still be a cost to them, but they are

working with the trade associations to find some solutions and alternatives. (Joan

Rosen, JC Rosen Resources)

However, money will be saved by reducing food loss. For example, The United States spends

about $1 billion a year just to dispose of food waste. In 2012, more than 36 million tons of

food waste was generated, with only 5% diverted from landfills and incinerators for

composting (http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/foodwaste/).


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4.6 What would be the impact of reducing food loss in the perishables

supply chain?

Reducing food loss would impact many areas. Whilst many are very positive, for instance

better food security there may also be some negative effects. Some of the largest

impacts include:

Health

o Lower levels of food insecurity (this will be discussed further in the next

section)

o Improved food safety

o Enhanced nutrition

Environment

o Reduction in the environmental impacts of food loss

o Reduction in the pressure on farming areas since less production is required

Finance and trade

o Lower food prices

Accelerated poverty reduction

Negative incentive for investment

Less income for farmers

o Reduction in the cost of waste management

Negatively affects anaerobic digestion plants and other businesses

around food waste utilisation

o Decrease in the reliance on food imports

o More vibrant rural economy due to more job opportunities and secondary

enterprises supporting production and postharvest requirements

o Make certain businesses (e.g. cassava) more attractive for private sector

investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. This would contribute to make cassava

move from a primarily subsistence crop to a commercial crop. This in

turns would trigger adoption of higher yielding varieties and input.

o A more efficient food value chain can be functional to an import

substitution strategy (saving Forex): For instance high quality cassava flour (HQCF) is a partial

substitute of wheat flour in the baking industry and perfect

substitute of starch in a number of industrial sectors.

Government and policy

o Better integration of both private and public agendas


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4.7 How many more people could be fed if food loss in the perishables

supply chain was reduced?

It was estimated that if the global food loss and waste (one-third of total production) can

be halved, the saved food could feed one billion more people (Gustavsson et al., 2011).

This will have a great impact in Asia-Pacific. The Asia-Pacific region has 578 million

people suffering from hunger (62.5% of global hunger) and 1.5 billion people afflicted by

micronutrient deficiency or hidden hunger (75% of global total). The principal cause of

hunger is poverty which is also serious in the region where twothird of the worlds poor

live (FAO, 2008, FAO, 2012).

Gunders (2012) has estimated that by reducing food loss in the USA by 15% there would

be enough food to feed more than 25 million Americans.

To address hunger in the U.S. based on current levels of food insecurity there is anannual need of "8.5B meals (1 meal = 1.2lbs) to feed 49MM people. (Note: Food

insecure individuals do not typically source all of their meals through hunger relief

channels.) The Feeding America network provides "3.5B meals annually. With >70B

lbs of potentially recoverable food waste generated in the U.S. for profit supply chain,

the total need of the food insecure in the U.S. could be addressed via food waste

recovery.(Daniel Krohm, Feeding America)

However, meaningful data must be obtained that links food insecurity issues connected

to food loss with poverty, and how food loss is connected with food insecurity for both

the working poor and those in poverty in the United States and elsewhere to discoverregional issues.

4.8 What are the possible approaches to unavoidable loss utilisation?

4.8.1 Charity Food Banks

Food that has passed its sell by date so cannot be sold by retailers is often still fit for

human consumption. Charity food banks, such as Feeding America, usually collect food

from retailers that have over ordered or manufacturers that have over produced.

4.8.2 Composting

Composting food rather than disposing of it in landfill has multiple benefits such as reducing

the amount of methane produced in landfills and producing cost effective natural fertiliser.

4.8.3 Animal Feed

Historically, food waste was commonly used as animal feed. In the developing world

much of the food waste is still used as animal feed, however, following the BSE (bovine

spongiform encephalopathy) outbreak in the 1980s, in the UK and much of Europe, the


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feeding of processed animal protein (PAP) to most farm animals was prohibited.

Subsequently, the foot-and-mouth outbreak led to the UK prohibiting the feeding of animals

of catering waste that had been in contact with animal products. Some of these restrictions

are in the process of being relaxed, but stringent safety and processing regulations must be

put in place. One third of all cereals produced worldwide are used for animal feed ratherthan directly for human consumption (FAO, 2013) so any food waste that could be used to

reduce this number will be a huge benefit.

4.8.4 Anaerobic digestion/renewable energy

Anaerobic digesters (AD) convert food waste into biogas (60% methane, 40% carbon dioxide

and traces of other gases such as hydrogen sulphide) using naturally occurring micro-

organisms. The biogas can be used to produce electricity and heat, while the digestate (the

indigestible material) can be used as fertiliser. The biogas can also be purified into pure

methane which can be used as road fuel or added to the mains gas grid. AD plants can comein a variety of sizes from those used by local authorities or industry to much smaller farm

scale units (Figure 2).

However, there are regulations that must be adhered to in many countries when using

AD. Meat and other products of animal origin must go through a process of

hygienisation to ensure that there is sufficient pathogen removal so that the treated

digestate can be used as fertiliser.

Figure 2. The Biffa AD plant used by Sainsburys supermarket in Staffordshire, UK (left) and a smallscale AD unit produced by SEaB Energy. Images from www.waste-management-world.comandwww.seabenergy.com respectively.


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5. Conclusion

Reducing food loss is a global priority as it will help feed the many starving people around

the world as well as reduce the huge environmental impact associated with food loss. The

survey responses have enabled us to identify where and why food loss occurs. The causes of

food loss in the developing world are predominantly due to a lack of cold chain systems andaffordable and reliable energy. Substantial investment in infrastructure is needed as well as

education on how to transport and store perishable food. In the developed world, where

there is already a cold chain in place, there needs to be better temperature management to

avoid breaks in the cold chain. Retailer practices must also be improved so that better

forecasting reduces overproduction and over supply. Some food loss is unavoidable but it

must be utilised rather than just ending up in landfill.

As the survey progresses we hope to further investigate the causes of perishable food

loss and identify solutions to reduce perishable food loss globally.


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WEINBERGER, K., GENOVA II, C. & ACEDO, A. 2008. Quantifying postharvest loss in vegetablesalong the supply chain in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. International Journal of PostharvestTechnology and Innovation,1, 288-297.


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Appendix 1. Stage 1 survey questions

1. Which of the following best describes your area of expertise

Logistics

Food Science/MicrobiologyEconomicsPolicy/GovernmentOther - Please specify

2. To which region or country does your expertise relate?

GlobalAfricaAsiaEuropeMiddle EastLatin AmericaNorth AmericaCountries - Please specify

3. How much food is lost in the perishables supply chain in yourregion/country of expertise? Please cite references whereappropriate.

4. How much perishable food is also wasted in your region/country?

5. What are the major causes of food loss in the perishables supply chain in your

region/country?6. How could food loss in the perishables supply chain be reduced in your

region/country?

7. What would be the financial cost (e.g. for infrastructure improvements) of

reducing food loss in the perishables supply chain in your region/country?

8. What would be the impact of reducing food loss in the perishables supply chain in

your region/country?

9. How many more people would you estimate could be fed in your region/country

if food loss in the perishables supply chain was reduced?

10. What are the possible approaches to unavoidable food loss utilisation (e.g.anaerobic digestion)?

11. Any other comments?


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Appendix 2. Questionnaire responders

Table 4. List of questionnaire responders.

Name Organisation Area of expertise Region(s) of expertiseDr Antonio Acedo AVRDC - The World

Vegetable Center

Postharvest technology of vegetables

and fruits

Asia

Cara Ammon Nielsen PerishablesGroup

Food handling practices North America

Dr RaymondAnthony

University of AlaskaAnchorage

Ethical aspects,including environmental

North America

Selina Juul Stop Wasting Food Policy/Government, Campaigning EuropeSammy Kariuki Tymax Agribusiness

Solutions LimitedAgribusiness Specialist East Africa

Dr JudithKreyenschmidt

University of Bonn Logistics, Food Science/Microbiology Europe

Daniel Krohm Feeding America Food banking North AmericaHortense Montoux Bio Intelligence Service Environment EuropeDr Diego Naziri University of Greenwich Economics Africa, Asia

Dr Hubert Reisinger Umweltbundesamt Waste prevention expert,environmental policy consultancy

Europe, Austria

Joan Rosen JC Rosen Resources Food Science/Microbiology Europe, North AmericaMarc Sadler World Bank Logistics, Policy/Government GlobalMichael Silverstein Boston Consulting Group Economics, Consulting North AmericaDr Barbara Sturm Newcastle University Postharvest processing Africa, EuropeEric Trachtenberg McLarty Associates Economics, Policy/Government GlobalDavid Williams IMechE Crop Storage, transport & primary

processingAfrica, Europe, Middle East,North America


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Appendix 3. Further comments on infrastructure


Further comments from David Williams (IMechE, UK) on infrastructure:

I have visited numerous crop stores in countries including the former Soviet Union (Russian

Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Georgia), Africa (Tanzania and Zambia), Iraq,Afghanistan and DPR Korea where lack of reliable electrical supplies was a major limiting

factor. In Southern Afghanistan, a programme in which I worked installed small scale cold

storage facilities for grapes, pomegranates and vegetables. These were not successful

because there was no reliable mains power supply and the cost of importing diesel through

a war zone to run generators increased the cost of power to unsustainable levels [for

storage of primary products]. A much larger programme erected a large cold store in

Kandahar with a great deal of publicity. To my knowledge has never been used for the same

reason of lack of reliable and affordable electrical power. But making a realistic estimate for

providing power in that area is a challenge in itself. The military has attempted to refurbish

the local hydro-electric station, but 8 years on, it still is not in action. I was hired to

commission several fruit processing units in Northern Afghanistan, these also failed as none

of the sites had access to either potable water or to electricity. The German development

programmes under GIZ have attempted to address both issues by installing several mini-

hydro schemes, but once again the real cost is difficult to determine. In Kazakhstan and DPR

Korea, power is controlled by politicians and is only available in rural areas for limited

periods. Once again it is severely limited due to lack of supply or poor distribution networks.

Estimating the cost of improving both is a major task in itself.

In Tanzania, I visited multiple small scale processing facilities. Most were idle for days at

a time due to lack of power. I visited one site that was equipped with state of the art

equipment [Mainly provided by international donors]. This equipment was all lying idle

due to lack of power and the processing was being carried out by hand, in appalling

conditions I understand that cold storage outside Dar es Salaam is barely developed for

the same reason, lack of reliable power. Some companies are currently developing solar

powered cold storage units, but which is more cost effective, providing stand-alone solar

units, or mains powered facilities? I don't think we are at the stage just yet where we

can provide answers.

Transport and loading/unloading facilities are also sadly lacking as are crates and boxes

to protect the produce [except for exporter companies]. Again in Afghanistan, I've seen a

tomato processor that has been provided with crates intended to reduce transport

damage, but these were stacked unused because the main carrying vehicles were

bicycles and motorcycles, neither of which are compatible with rectangular crates. As a

result, the tomatoes were being carried in plastic bags which caused loss due to

mechanical and thermal effects.


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Appendix 4. Post-harvest cassava losses

Post-harvest cassava losses (Dr Diego Naziri, University of Greenwich).

Ghana: about 50% of roots reach the final consumer (HH) in fresh form. It will be

mainly pounded into Fufu at home (different than the Nigerian one). The rootsmust go through the whole VC in the fresh perishable form

Nigeria: roots mainly spoil at the yard of processing sites due to poor fine-tuning

of the procurement (delays in processing and roots left exposed to adverse

weather conditions)

Thailand: mechanization, large farms and no poor villagers scavenging for leftovers

determine high losses on farm during harvesting. In Africa plot sizes are considerably

smaller and there are fewer leftover during the manual harvesting. Moreover roots

that are broken during the harvesting are left in the field while in less developed

countries there is always a way to minimize these losses, possibly diverting these

broken roots to lower value sub-chains (for instance processing them into kokonte in

Ghana). Other important losses during the handling of dry chips in the form of dust

Vietnam: most losses are incurred either at the processing stage (due to considerable

amount of roots that spoil at the chip processing yard) or during transport and

trading (at large extent related to the wet starch sub-chain in Northern Vietnam

where considerable volumes of fresh roots have to be transported from the

mountainous areas in the Northern regions to the outskirt of Hanoi where most

cottage level processing occurs). The dry starch value chain (typical of SouthVietnam) is efficient in minimizing the losses and this is proved by the fact that, while

it absorbs about 55% of cassava roots produced in the country, it is responsible for

just 18% of total physical losses.


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Appendix 5. Post-harvest loss in Kenya

Post-harvest loss in Kenya by Sammy Kariuki (Tymax).

Poor harvest timing: Wrong harvesting period e.g. when its too hot leading to

dehydration Poor harvesting methods. This results from harvesters not been keen and end up

wasting a lot of edible products through for example leaving good products in thefield that latter overgrows and thrown away.

Harvesting equipment: Use of substandard & dirty equipment. For exampleharvesting tomatoes on broken crates that bruises the fruits leading to loss assuch wont access the market. Others include using these containers for multipleactivities such as using a jug to milk and still use it for holding tea.

Harvesting area: Having unhygienic harvesting areas for example milking dairyanimals in an open, dirty area especially when raining where mud get into the milk

Poor sorting and grading methods: Most of horticultural produce are sensitive totemperatures hence if exposed for long when sorting and grading the qualitydeteriorates. If one is not keen especially when dealing with huge volumes, a lotof good product is wasted during sorting and grading stage by mixing good andbad quality products. Furthermore, such waste is experienced during processingthrough e.g. failure to observe FIFO policy on raw material usage leading to oldstock going bad

Hygiene: Poor hygiene for example use of dirty hands when milking affects milkquality

Poor crop protection. There are pests (e.g. caterpillars) and diseases (.e.g.

anthracnose) which are not detected during harvesting and grading andprogressively affect quality.

Poor logistics: Poor logistics from the farms to the storage facilities and ormarkets usually leads to huge losses. Some of the challenges include:-

Poor road network. Majority of the farms are located in rural areas wherethere is poor road network. This makes it hard to transport the goods on timedue to cost involved, in accessible roads especially during the rainy season.

Un roadworthy vehicles: Transporting the goods in dirty, open vehiclesespecially trucks exposing the food to sun which leads to dehydration,dust, smoke which all affects produce quality

Contamination: Mixing of produce with other products orequipment/products. Various goods are mixed in the same truck withoutconsidering the effects on the produce for example transporting farminputs such as fertilizer together with inputs. Also when separated thetrucks are now well washed.

Mechanical damage of produce: There occurs a lot of mechanical damageon the produce by stacking huge volumes together when transporting.

Poor storage facilities such as cold rooms. Most of the produce is stored in openfield and also in room temperature. This drastically reduces produce quality.

Lack of affordable storage chemicals.


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Lack of organized markets. Production driven market as opposed to marketdriven production. This leads to huge mismatch between market requirementand production hence a lot of produce going to waste in times of excesses.

Rain fed agriculture: Majority of farmers rely on rain for production. This leads toexcess production especially after the rains. This applies to horticultural such as

cabbages and dairy where there is high milk production after the rains due toincreased fodder. This results to glut leading to huge food wastage.

Poor farmer capacity building: weak linkages between the research institutionsand the agricultural sector. Research on proper handling methods is not reachingthe end user

Open market: Most of the agricultural products are traded in the open air marketexposing the products to adverse weather hence affecting food quality leading tohuge losses

Weather: Weather affects consumption of particular goods. For example peopledont consume watermelon in high volumes during cold season. This affects

movement of goods from the shelves leading to quality deterioration and finally loss Prices: Due to inefficiency along the entire value chain, the final consumer price is

usually high. This leads to less demand for particular products affecting movement

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