Description

Food waste and loss generate negative externalities by the excess use of energy and other natural resources. Unused food, however, constitutes a valuable biological material. The appropriate utilization of food waste could have a positive impact on the whole agri-food production system. The UN SDG’s target, among others, the reduction of food waste and loss by 2030. The prevention and making better use of food waste and loss are also among the objectives of the European Green Deal, and subsidy programmes will be dedicated to these ends in the framework of the post-2020 CAP. The fulfilment of reduction targets assumes, first and foremost, exact data and information on the amount of food waste and loss, and on the attitude and behaviour of the different actors along the food chain.

This flagship research project of AKI aims at investigating primarily the phenomenon of food loss in agriculture, food processing, food retail, hospitality, and public catering in Hungary. AKI conducts surveys to assess the willingness and capacity of the actors to provide statistical data, and to explore their motivations and challenges regarding the reduction of food loss. Through this, AKI provides support for the development of effective policy measures. The next steps will be the measuring of food loss generated in the different stages of certain product chains, and the monitoring and evaluation of progress in loss reduction. AKI intends to contribute to the development of data collection methods and policy tools at the international level too.

Keywords

food waste, food loss, food chain

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