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The economywide effects of reducing food loss and waste in developing countries

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Title The economywide effects of reducing food loss and waste in developing countries
 
Creator Aragie, Emerta
Pauw, Karl
Thurlow, James
 
Subject sustainable development goals
postharvest losses
food waste
value chain
general equilibrium model
economy
poverty
diets
policies
food systems
 
Description One of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is reducing food loss and waste (FLW) across all stages of food value chains, including the on-farm production, the off-farm postharvest, processing, and distribution, and the household consumption stages. We employ general equilibrium models for Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria to assess the economywide implications of reducing FLW at different stages of value chains. Halving FLW results in GDP increases of between 1.1 and 2 percent, with up to 13 million people lifted out of poverty across the three countries. Diets also improve – especially in Kenya and Nigeria – due to greater availability and lower prices of healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables. Although most of the gains originate from reducing FLW in the on-farm production stage, strong intersectoral linkages mean around 30 percent of measured GDP gains are realized in non-agricultural sectors. Reducing waste at the final consumption stage has small negative impacts on GDP as households purchase less food without reducing their food intake. We conclude that the significant economywide gains provide a justification for adopting FLW reduction strategies, although costing the policy and investment options needed to reduce FLW is an important area for future research.
 
Date 2023-03-07
2023-08-08T09:33:07Z
2023-08-08T09:33:07Z
 
Type Working Paper
 
Identifier Aragie, Emerta; Pauw, Karl; and Thurlow, James. 2023. The economywide effects of reducing food loss and waste in developing countries. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2173. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136605
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/131466
https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136605
 
Language en
 
Relation IFPRI Discussion Paper
 
Rights Open Access
 
Format 31 pages
application/pdf
 
Publisher International Food Policy Research Institute