FAO Expert Highlights Food Loss And Waste Reduction Steps

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 28. Food Loss and Waste (FLW) accounts for 10 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the world, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) expert Parviz Aliyev said during the forum "Green World Solidarity: Waste to Value for a Sustainable Future" in Baku today, Trend reports.

The FAO representative mentioned that reducing FLW is a priority in FAO's actions to implement the roadmap to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

According to him, the global food system is responsible for 21–37 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions.

"Food producers use land, water, and energy, which are essential resources, sometimes non-renewable. When there is not careful handling of food, it affects the entire economic system and climate change. This approach has already led FAO to forecast that global food production could decrease by 35–50 percent, resulting in severe negative consequences," noted Aliyev.

He emphasized that FAO is conducting the Global Food Initiative to reduce losses and waste in the food sector.

"In some cases, if waste cannot be reduced, used food products should be transformed through recycling and technology into useful non-food products," he added.

Aliyev also said that in Azerbaijan, FAO is implementing projects for farmers, which have already increased farm incomes by a total of 15 percent ($3.6 million annually).

To note, the forum has started its work in Baku on June 27 and will last for two days.

The forum is organized with the support of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and Tamiz Shahar OJSC. It is attended by officials from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, UN representatives, and delegates from various international organizations, including several foreign countries.

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