The world has set an ambitious target to halve food loss and waste by 2030. This issue has significant social, environmental, and economic impacts.

On September 24th, the WFO President Theo de Jager as a member of the Champions 12.3 Coalition attended the special online event “Success or Crisis in 2030? The Fight to Halve Food Loss and Waste“, hosted by the World Resources Institute (WRI).

Champions 12.3, including executives from governments, businesses, international organisations, research institutions, farmer groups, and civil society, convened digitally to dive into what the world has made and what is needed to accelerate progress toward achieving SDG Target 12.3 by 2030.

Answering to the question “What farmers are doing and how best to accelerate”, Theo de Jager shared with the audience the example of the circularity of farming, that is to say, to use livestock to digest the farm’s food waste and use their manure back into the soil.

“Let’s create a tool by which retailers, restaurants, say we are about to through food waste, and farmers can say we can use it for manure”, he said calling on retailers, restaurants, and cafes to work with the farmers.

About food loss, he underlined how during COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, many litres of milk got lost in USA and potatoes in Europe.

He then reminded the audience that farmers are better organised today than ever before, and if there is a disconnection, working with the farmers’ organisations is the best way to connect with farmers.