Peru: Food losses in food sales over 2 million people

In Peru, at the level of retail sales, 3.076 million are wasted calories, would be sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of about 2 million people, allowing you to reduce hunger from 11.8% to 6%, FAO reported in the report on food waste in Latin America and the Caribbean and Loss.

In Latin America and the Caribbean are lost and wasted more food than is needed to meet the nutritional needs of the 47 million people still suffer from hunger in the region, FAO said today.

The Report of the FAO Regional Office, says that 6% of global food losses occur in the region.
"Each year, the region lost or wasted about 15% of its food available, impacting the sustainability of food systems, reducing local and global availability of food, generate less income for farmers and increase prices for consumers"

Benitez added that losses and waste also have a negative effect on the environment due to unsustainable use of natural resources. "Addressing these issues is essential for progress in the fight against hunger and must become a priority for governments in Latin America and the Caribbean," Benitez said.
What and where are the losses and wastage occur ?.

According to FAO, losses relate to the reduction of the available mass of food for human consumption in phases of production, post-harvest storage and transport.

Losses and wastage occur along the food chain in the region, 28% occurs at the consumer level; 28% in terms of production, 17% in marketing and distribution, 22% during handling and storage and the remaining 6% processing level.
Losses in retail

With foods that are lost in the region only at the level of detail say -that sale in supermarkets, street markets, warehouses and other stalls selling consumer- could feed more than 30 million people, ie 64 % of those suffering from hunger in the region.
Foods that are lost at this level in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Colombia are equivalent to those that would be needed to feed all the hungry in developing countries.

Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Surinam and Uruguay could have food equivalent to that required to achieve the first Millennium Development Goal, reduced only if such losses.

"While it is important to note that countries in the region have more than enough calories to feed all its citizens, the huge amount of food lost or end up in the garbage bin is simply unacceptable as hunger continues to affect nearly 8% of the regional population, "said Raul Benitez.

How to wipe out losses / waste ?.
There are ways to avoid losses and waste in every link of the chain, primarily through investments in infrastructure and physical capital, improving the efficiency of food systems and good governance on the issue through regulatory frameworks, investment incentives and strategic alliances between the public and private sector.

Examples are food banks, which together food for various reasons would be discarded for redistribution, which already exist in Costa Rica, Chile, Guatemala, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Brazil and Mexico. The Association of Food Banks of Mexico, for example, rescued 56 000 tonnes of food in 2013 alone.

Public awareness is also key, and can be done by targeting each of the actors in the food chain campaigns, as does the overall SAVE FOOD initiative, a partnership between FAO, UNEP and the German company Messe Düsseldorf. SAVE FOOD gathers 250 members, organizations, public and private companies and conducts campaigns in all regions of the world.
"Eradicating hunger in the region requires that all sectors of society to make efforts to reduce their losses and waste," said Regional Representative of FAO.

Global waste and Losses
Globally, between one quarter and one third of the food produced annually for human consumption is lost or wasted. This amounts to about 1300 million tonnes of food, including 30% of cereals, between 40 and 50% of the roots, fruits, vegetables and oilseeds, 20% of meat and dairy products and 35% of the fish. FAO estimates that such foods would be enough to feed 2,000 million people.

By: * Loretta Favarato
Communicator – FAO Perú
lostetta.favarato@fao.org