Women Turning the Table on Food Loss and Waste in Kenya

This case study describes the collaboration between the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and Kenyan women leaders to address food loss and waste. The efforts have focused on influencing national policy through a new post-harvest management strategy and developing redistribution guidelines for retailers to combat food insecurity and malnutrition.

• Kenya faces significant food insecurity, with more than 25% of the population undernourished in 2021. Food loss and waste in sub-Saharan Africa is reported to exceed 30% of production, which is more than twice the global average.
• The Kenyan government released a Post-Harvest Management Strategy for Food Loss and Waste Reduction in October 2024. This strategy, developed by a multi-sectoral national task team with FAO support, aims to build supply chain partnerships to address recurring causes of food loss and waste and improve food system efficiency.
• The Retail Trade Association of Kenya (RETRAK), in coordination with the Ministry of Health and support from IISD, FAO, Solidaridad, and the World Resources Institute, developed guidelines to help retailers redistribute surplus food. These guidelines aim to create pathways for supermarkets and eateries to donate food to those in need rather than sending it to landfills or using it as animal feed.
• Infrastructure capacity remains a significant barrier to effective food redistribution in Kenya. Food-recovery organizations lack the necessary resources, such as refrigerated trucks, to meet the requirements of retailers who often demand countrywide recovery from all their stores.

APA

Bermúdez, S., Bizikova, L., Larrea, C., & Luna, E. (2024). Women Turning the Table on Food Loss and Waste in Kenya. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/women-turning-table-food-loss-waste-kenya

Chicago

Bermúdez, Steffany, Livia Bizikova, Cristina Larrea, and Erika Luna. Women Turning the Table on Food Loss and Waste in Kenya. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2024. https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/women-turning-table-food-loss-waste-kenya.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bermúdez |first1=Steffany |last2=Bizikova |first2=Livia |last3=Larrea |first3=Cristina |last4=Luna |first4=Erika |title=Women Turning the Table on Food Loss and Waste in Kenya |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2 October 2024 |url=https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/women-turning-table-food-loss-waste-kenya |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bermdez2024women, author = {Bermúdez, Steffany and Bizikova, Livia and Larrea, Cristina and Luna, Erika}, title = {{Women Turning the Table on Food Loss and Waste in Kenya}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/women-turning-table-food-loss-waste-kenya}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }