Reducing Food Loss and Waste

This research paper, part of the World Resources Report 2013-14 series, analyzes the economic and environmental impacts of global food loss and waste and proposes that halving these losses by 2050 could significantly bridge the gap in future global food requirements.

• Approximately 24 percent of all calories produced for human consumption are lost or wasted, which means one in four food calories intended for people is not consumed. This differs from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 2009 estimate of 32 percent, which was based on weight rather than calories.
• Food loss and waste result in negative economic consequences, such as reduced farmer incomes and increased consumer costs, and environmental damage, including inefficient land and water use and unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions.
• Reducing the current rate of food loss and waste from 24 percent to 12 percent by 2050 would reduce the world's annual food need by approximately 1,314 trillion kilocalories (kcal). This reduction represents roughly 22 percent of the 6,000 trillion kcal annual gap between current food availability and the needs of 2050.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Reducing Food Loss and Waste. https://www.wri.org/research/reducing-food-loss-and-waste

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Reducing Food Loss and Waste. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/reducing-food-loss-and-waste.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Reducing Food Loss and Waste |url=https://www.wri.org/research/reducing-food-loss-and-waste |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendreducing, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Reducing Food Loss and Waste}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/reducing-food-loss-and-waste}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }