Sustainable Approach to Food Stability: A Two-Pronged Effort to Lessen Food Waste and Boost Trade Opportunities
In the quest to feed a growing global population, the 2025 Outlook identifies the integration of trade efficiency and waste reduction as a key strategy. This approach presents opportunities for domestic food waste to be redirected to markets facing shortages and for export diversification and surplus redistribution to address hunger.
The Outlook underscores that food waste reduction and global trade are mutually reinforcing strategies. Regions such as Latin America, North America, and Eastern Europe will continue to be key exporters of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, and livestock products. However, limited financing, cultural resistance, and fragmented policies hinder the implementation of food waste reduction strategies, while geopolitical tensions, trade protectionism, infrastructure bottlenecks, and climate-induced volatility remain significant threats on the trade front.
In low-income countries, food loss occurs due to systemic inefficiencies like inadequate storage and transport infrastructure and limited post-harvest processing capabilities. Investments in trade infrastructure, such as cold chains, smart logistics, and last-mile connectivity, can drastically reduce post-harvest losses, particularly in perishable goods. On the other hand, in high-income nations, food is primarily wasted at the retail and consumer stages.
The Outlook emphasizes several best practices and strategies for reducing food waste and strengthening agri-food trade as critical solutions to global food security challenges. To reduce food waste, the Outlook suggests implementing targeted and time-bound social protection programs, promoting supply chain digitization and transparency, encouraging sustainable sourcing and regenerative agricultural practices, and investing in public awareness and education.
To strengthen agri-food trade, the Outlook recommends fostering investments in rural and agricultural transformation, developing transparent and digital supply chains, promoting strategic trade policies, and supporting climate-resilient agricultural practices and environmental stewardship.
Technology is proving to be a critical enabler in reducing food waste, with innovations such as food rescue platforms, AI-based inventory optimization, and blockchain-enabled traceability systems reshaping how food is stored, sold, and shipped across borders. Countries such as France, Japan, and Australia have demonstrated the effectiveness of comprehensive national strategies for reducing food waste.
As the world looks towards feeding 9 billion people by 2034, halving food waste and ensuring equitable access through international trade are indispensable strategies for creating a morally sound, economically efficient, and environmentally sustainable food system. The global trade network buffers supply shocks and serves as a balancing force for price stability, dietary diversity, and regional food access. The 2025 Outlook stresses a combination of innovative technologies, sustainable practices, targeted policies, and investments in infrastructure and social protection as essential to simultaneously reducing food waste and strengthening agri-food trade, thereby advancing global food security.
- To align with the 2025 Outlook's strategy for global food security, integral policies and legislation need to address the implementation of food waste reduction measures, overcoming obstacles such as limited financing, cultural resistance, and fragmented policies.
- Integrating the latest developments in environmental science and climate-change research into policy-and-legislation discussions could help identify eco-friendly solutions to minimize food waste and promote climate-resilient agricultural practices.
- Inversely, a lifestyle that prioritizes sustainability and minimizes food waste through waste reduction, sourcing sustainable food-and-drink options, and raising awareness about the environmental impact of food choices can collectively contribute to global food security and reduce the harmful effects on the general-news environment.
- As regional or international tensions can impact food-and-drink trade through trade protectionism and geopolitical instability, politics and diplomacy play a crucial role in ensuring free and fair trade and access to markets in the face of climate-change-induced volatility and environmental challenges.
