Amman’s efforts on Reducing Food Loss and Waste

Food loss and waste (FLW) is one of the most pressing global challenges, impacting environmental sustainability, food security, and economic resilience. About 13 percent of all food produced globally is lost and 19 percent is wasted, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and inefficient resource use. With urban populations projected to consume 80% of global food by 2050, cities are at the heart of both the problem and the solution. 

Amman’s urgency in addressing food loss and waste 

As Jordan’s largest city, Amman faces rapid urbanization and growing food demand. ​​​Each year, Jordan generates approximately 93 kg of food waste per person—an amount that could feed 1.5 million people​ for one year​. The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) signed the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact in 2023, recognizing the challenges of rapid urbanization and highlighting its dedication to learning from and collaborating with cities worldwide on sustainable food policies. This commitment set the stage for addressing food loss and waste as a key entry point to improving the city's agrifood system.      

South-South and triangular cooperation mechanism for connecting stakeholders and facilitating peer learning  

To support Amman’s efforts, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has partnered with GAM, the City of Milan, the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, and the NGO Let’s Food to provide technical expertise, promote peer learning, and foster partnerships across sectors. 

These efforts were carried within the framework of FAO's Programme Priority Areas on ‘Reducing Food Loss and Waste’, and 'Achieving Sustainable Urban Food Systems'. 

A critical step in this journey was the FLW assessment, which mapped food loss and waste hotspots, identified bottlenecks in the supply chain, and highlighted opportunities for reduction, recovery and redistribution. The findings revealed that large volumes of perishable goods are wasted due to inefficiencies within supply chains, such as improper packaging at both farm and market levels, insufficient access to cold and ventilated storage, mismatches between production and demand.  

Armed with this evidence-based analysis, GAM has been able to identify high-impact areas for intervention and establish benchmarks to monitor progress effectively. Moreover, the assessment highlighted opportunities for food recovery and redistribution initiatives to support vulnerable populations across the city. 

For the first time, GAM engaged in an extensive consultation process with local stakeholders to build its food loss and waste strategy. This participatory approach brought together diverse voices from across the agrifood system, including farmers, wholesalers, retailers, NGOs, and community representatives. Through in person workshops and virtual dialogue sessions, stakeholders contributed valuable insights and proposed innovative solutions to reduce food loss and waste. 

“I would say that we are looking for further cooperation with all the stakeholders,” noted Kassab Al Shakhanbeh, Manager of Amman Wholesale Market, Greater Amman Municipality. 

With the support of the NGO Let’s Food, FAO has also facilitated peer-to-peer exchanges between Amman and Milan through the framework its South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) programme. These exchanges allowed peer learning between GAM stakeholders and Milan officials on food loss and waste reduction, surplus food redistribution, and circular economy initiatives. For example, Milan’s success in redistributing surplus food to support food-insecure populations inspired some of the actions included within the Amman Food Strategy.  

These interactions have demonstrated the power of peer learning, including the experiential learning, for fostering political commitment, stakeholder engagement and motivation.   

“Connecting people is at the centre of our sustainable change” said the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, Chair of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact.      

Amman Mayor Youssef Al Shawarbeh emphasized that the municipality is committed to achieving the goals of the Milan Pact and is working on developing a specific action plan to accomplish these objectives. 

Moving forward: Scaling up sustainable agrifood systems initiatives 

Building on this foundation, GAM is now starting to implement actions to reduce FLW, integrating local efforts with national policies and governance with the aim to unlock resources and scale impact. One key initiative is a pilot project at the central market, where food waste is being composted for use in urban green spaces—a step towards circular economy practices.  

At the national level, linking Amman’s FLW reduction efforts with Jordan’s broader sustainability agenda is essential. Strengthening governance between municipal and national authorities on food loss and waste and promoting the systemic approach is crucial for ensuing long term sustainability. FAO, in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), is facilitating multilevel governance on food loss and waste by linking the Greater Amman FLW strategy with the action plan of the new National Food Loss and Waste Committee.  

Greater Amman Municipality’s efforts highlight the impact of collaboration in tackling food loss and waste as a pathway to sustainable agrifood systems. Through partnerships with FAO, Let’s Food, and Milan, GAM, in collaboration with multiple local stakeholders,  has shown that targeted, inclusive actions can strengthen urban food systems by leveraging peer learning and South-South and Triangular Cooperation.

Reducing food loss and waste is not just an objective, but a catalyst for broader sustainable agrifood systems transformation at all levels.