Women Turning the Table on Food Loss and Waste in Kenya

The document details a partnership led by women leaders and supported by IISD to address high levels of food loss and waste in Kenya. Key achievements include the development of a national Post-Harvest Management Strategy for Food Loss and Waste Reduction and the creation of guidelines for retailers to redistribute surplus food. The text emphasizes the role of multi-sectoral partnerships involving the Ministry of Health, the Retail Trade Association of Kenya (RETRAK), and the FAO in tackling food insecurity.

• Food loss and waste in sub-Saharan Africa is reported to exceed 30% of production, which is more than double the global average, contributing to rising food insecurity in countries like Kenya where over a quarter of the population was undernourished in 2021.
• The Kenyan government released a Post-Harvest Management Strategy for Food Loss and Waste Reduction in October 2024. This multi-sectoral strategy, developed with FAO support and IISD recommendations, aims to build supply chain partnerships to address recurring causes of food loss and waste and improve food system efficiency.
• To address the lack of legal frameworks and strict regulations that lead to retail waste, RETRAK, the Ministry of Health, FAO, World Resources Institute, Solidaridad, and IISD developed guidelines to help retailers redistribute surplus food to those in need.
• Infrastructure limitations, specifically the lack of refrigerated trucks and the inability of recovery organizations to manage countrywide collections from all retail stores, remain significant barriers to effective food redistribution in Kenya.

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} }