Food Loss and Waste in India: The Knowns and The Unknowns

This research paper by the World Resources Institute India and the Food and Land Use (FOLU) Coalition’s India platform analyzes 106 publications and expert consultations to evaluate food loss and waste in India. It identifies significant data gaps, particularly regarding household-level waste and the social and environmental impacts of food loss, and advocates for the adoption of standardized measurement metrics and multi-stakeholder coalitions to address these challenges.

• The estimated economic value of post-harvest losses in India was INR 926.51 billion (USD 15.19 billion) in 2014, though this figure is considered an underestimation of the total food loss and waste.
• Current research in India focuses primarily on the quantity of post-harvest loss, leaving empirical data on food waste—especially at the household level—almost nonexistent.
• There are critical gaps in understanding the social, economic, and environmental impacts of food loss and waste in India, including a lack of gender-disaggregated research to inform technology and management solutions.
• Existing data on food losses lack comparability due to differing measurement metrics, leading to a recommendation that India adopt the global Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard developed by the FLW Protocol.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Food Loss and Waste in India: The Knowns and The Unknowns. https://www.wri.org/research/food-loss-and-waste-india-knowns-and-unknowns

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Food Loss and Waste in India: The Knowns and The Unknowns. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/food-loss-and-waste-india-knowns-and-unknowns.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Food Loss and Waste in India: The Knowns and The Unknowns |url=https://www.wri.org/research/food-loss-and-waste-india-knowns-and-unknowns |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendfood, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Food Loss and Waste in India: The Knowns and The Unknowns}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/food-loss-and-waste-india-knowns-and-unknowns}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }