22 countries in the region received training in FAO's methodology for measuring food loss

In the context of the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste, the Regional Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) presented and made available to officials from National Statistical Offices and national institutions the methodology for constructing the Food Loss Index (FLI), developed by the specialized UN agency.

 According to FAO's latest estimate, 13% of food—the equivalent of 931 million tons or 120 kilograms (kg) per capita—was lost in the supply chain in 2021 between harvesting and reaching shelves. Reducing these figures is part of the Sustainable Development Goals.

In the context of the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste, the FAO Regional Office brought together officials from National Statistical Offices and national institutions involved in food loss and waste to make the IPA methodology available and clarify doubts about more effective procedures for measuring food loss, allowing strategies to be tailored to national needs.  

The meeting brought together more than 100 attendees from 22 countries, providing a space to share national experiences, strategies, and results in measuring food loss, thus providing incentives to countries that do not yet have a developed methodological strategy.

FAO Chief Economist and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean (a.i.), Máximo Torero, considered the meeting key "to strengthen technical and human capacities, promote innovative solutions, and foster closer regional cooperation." Torero emphasized that, despite being an exporter of high-value foods, the region faces a problem that "is not one of food availability, but rather one of access to it. Therefore, reducing losses, as well as having more information at the producer and value chain level, will allow us to solve this problem. But, at the same time, we also have to work on waste."

For FAO, measuring food loss is essential because generating reliable data allows for sizing the problem, identifying the most affected products and chains, and guiding public policies, investments, and programs to prevent and reduce food loss and insecurity, improve resource efficiency, and contribute to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Throughout the sessions, the need for strategies to design projects that strengthen the collection of reliable data, along with effective public policies and the inclusion of all types of stakeholders in the agrifood system, was highlighted. Likewise, the importance of having funding to generate innovative and technological actions that allow for achieving goals efficiently and in a shorter timeframe was emphasized.

Participating in the opening ceremony were Daniela Acuña, Deputy Director of ODEPA, Chef Heinz Wuth, and Daniela Godoy, FAO's Senior Policy Officer for Food Security and Nutrition for Latin America and the Caribbean.