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Fighting Food Loss in Vietnam - Accelerating Action: Paving the Path to Food Loss Reduction
- CL2B
- Dec 25, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 15
Published by CL2B
October 2024
Introduction
Food Loss and Waste (FLW) represents a critical challenge with far-reaching environmental, social, and economic consequences. The scale of FLW is enormous, with approximately one-third of all food produced globally going to waste. This results in substantial environmental degradation, exacerbates social inequalities, and imposes significant economic losses. Addressing FLW can have transformative impacts on global food security, poverty reduction, and climate change mitigation.
Worldwide, approximately one-third of all food produced—about 1.3 billion tons—is lost or wasted every year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) [1]. This amounts to a staggering economic loss of roughly $940 billion annually, alongside significant environmental consequences, including the wastage of natural resources like water, energy, and land. Food loss occurs at various stages along the supply chain—from production and processing to distribution and consumption—affecting both developing and developed nations, though in different ways. In developed countries, losses are more concentrated at the consumer level, whereas in developing regions, losses are more prevalent during the production, handling, and storage stages.
Southeast Asia is a region particularly vulnerable to food loss, accounting for a significant portion of the global total. The region’s high dependence on agriculture, coupled with its tropical climate, inadequate infrastructure, and fragmented supply chains, exacerbates the problem. According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 33% to 50% of fruits and vegetables in Southeast Asia are lost before they even reach consumers [2]. This is particularly worrying given the region’s reliance on agriculture for both food security and economic development. Food loss here is predominantly driven by poor post-harvest handling, lack of cold storage facilities, inefficient transportation systems, and erratic weather patterns due to climate change.
Vietnam, as a major agricultural producer in Southeast Asia, faces similar challenges, though with distinct national characteristics. According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, around 25% to 30% of the country's agricultural output is lost or wasted annually [3]. The loss is particularly acute in fresh agricultural commodities, seafood, and short-shelf-life products such as dairy. This is a significant issue given that agriculture contributes 15% to Vietnam’s GDP and employs nearly 40% of the workforce. However, these figures do not consider processing & packaging, distribution and household consumption food waste, making the situation more alarming.
Key commodities such as fruits and vegetables, fish and seafood, and meat experience higher levels of food loss at the source (farm production and postharvest handling and storage) in Vietnam compared to neighboring countries. This is largely due to inadequate post-harvest handling, insufficient cold storage, and fragmented supply chains [4, 5]. Environmental and sanitary challenges also contribute to reduced agricultural yields. For instance, African Swine Fever has led to significant losses in pork production in recent years [6].
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