International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste 2025; September 29th.

FORUM:"Stop food loss and waste. For the people. For our planet." International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste 2025. Decreasing food loss and waste is, in fact, enshrined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – within SDG 12, which seeks to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, Target 12.3 aims to “halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains” by 2030. The world’s population, currently at 8.2 billion, is expected to grow to close to 9.7 billion people by 2050 (UNDESA, 2024). Ensuring a food secure world – where current and future populations have access to sufficient nutritious food – crucially requires new ways of working, and concerted efforts to improve the sustainability and resilience of agrifood systems globally. Reducing food loss and waste (FLW) helps to protect natural resources and biodiversity, reduce pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and maximize the use of food produced. It is therefore central to securing efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, and to improving food security, nutrition and health. Embracing innovation and fostering circular economy approaches in agrifood systems to prevent, reduce, reuse and repurpose FLW also serves to create new job opportunities, improve livelihoods and generate financial benefits for a range of stakeholders. Now is the time for everyone – from producers, investors, businesses and supply chain stakeholders to consumers of all ages, as well as academia and research, civil society, and the private and public sectors – to take urgent action to expand and strengthen efforts both individually and collectively, to reduce food loss and waste towards ensuring a food secure world – now and in the future.  Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #FoodLoss; #FoodWaste; #FLWday.

EVENT: On September 29th, starting at 13:30 hrs CEST; a virtual event to mark the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste will be convened by the FAO and the UNEP; This event will bring together diverse voices in the region to promote a message of unity around the transformation of food systems, moving towards a more sustainable and resilient future. TheSixth observance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW) is calling for the expansion and strengthening of stakeholder efforts to reduce food loss and waste, as a critical element of securing a sustainable food future for all. It's time to get involved and take action. To join the IDAFLW global virtual event Register to participate!

KEY MESSAGES

■ Reducing FLW is crucial in maximizing the use of food produced, fighting food insecurity, enabling healthy diets, reducing GHG emissions, preserving biodiversity, and promoting resource efficiency towards ensuring a more sustainable, equitable and food secure world. ■ Sound data and evidence are critical to informing policy development and investments that support context-appropriate actions and innovations to reduce FLW. ■ Empowering consumers through education and awareness-raising campaigns is essential for changing behaviours towards reducing household food waste. Food businesses can play a role in this regard. ■ Both individual consumer action and cross-food chain collaboration, supported by enabling policies, are necessary to effectively tackle the complex challenge of reducing FLW. ■ Now is the time for everyone to take urgent action to expand and strengthen efforts to reduce FLW to ensure a food secure world, both now and in the future. 

Watch the Global virtual event!

PUBLICATION: Download the Get Involved Guide of the 6th observance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.

COMMUNICATION MATERIALS: Inform, engage, educate!

Get involved in the campaign by sharing our free material on digital channels and spread the word!

Let's get in touch contact us on Food-Loss-Waste-Day@fao.org.