Bringing Dutch expertise to the OECD food loss agenda

Food loss is increasingly recognized as a structural inefficiency in food systems. Within OECD discussions, it is therefore framed to support broader policy objectives – such as strengthened food system resilience and improved outcomes across the food–water–biodiversity–climate nexus – rather than being an end goal.

Globally, 13.3% of food is lost between harvest and retail, with losses occurring during harvesting, handling, storage, processing, and transport. In other words, a large share of food is lost before it reaches retailers. Reducing food loss at the primary production and early post-harvest stages is therefore one of the most effective ways to strengthen food security, while also improving farmers’ incomes and reducing environmental pressure.

This matters because food loss represents a direct waste of land, water, energy, and labor. Preventing losses at farm level and in the early stages of the supply chain can:

• Increase marketable output without expanding production areas 
  More of the food that is produced reaches consumers instead of being lost or wasted after harvest, which increases the overall food available without needing to grow more. 

• Improve farm profitability by making production more efficient 
  When less food is lost or wasted on-farm or early in the supply chain, farmers can sell a larger share of what they produce, improving efficiency and increasing income from the same inputs.

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions embedded in lost production 
  Food loss and waste means that all emissions from growing, processing, storing, and transporting that food are wasted too, so reducing losses directly lowers unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions.

• Ease pressure on biodiversity and natural ecosystems
  Reducing food loss and waste lowers the need to produce extra food, which helps avoid expanding agriculture into forests and natural habitats that support biodiversity.

• Strengthen resilience of the food system to climate and market shocks 
  Reducing food loss and waste makes the food system more resilient, meaning it is better able to withstand and recover from climate shocks such as droughts, floods, heatwaves, and storms, as well as market shocks such as sudden price increases, fuel and input cost spikes, supply chain disruptions, or trade interruptions, while maintaining stable food availability for consumers and income stability for farmers.

What has changed in the policy landscape?

At the OECD, food loss is increasingly recognized as a structural inefficiency in food systems rather than a marginal technical issue. Many countries have committed to international reduction targets, but implementation remains uneven, with some countries advancing significantly while others face delays or limited progress. The central question is no longer whether food loss should be reduced, but how to move from ambition to effective, long-term action. This discussion is increasingly linked to​​​​​​​ policy coherence across food systems, so that productivity, trade, and sustainability goals reinforce rather than undermine one another.

In addition, food loss prevention is more often seen as a mitigation measure in national climate plans. Geopolitical instability and supply chain disruptions have also increased attention to efficiency and loss reduction as tools for risk management. Precision farming and real-time data systems are making it easier to improve harvest timing and storage decisions. Cold chain investment has also gained visibility, especially in emerging markets. This is particularly relevant for horticulture, fisheries, and livestock sectors.

Food losses at early supply-chain stages receive relatively little attention

In 2025, the OECD published the report Beyond FLW Reduction Targets: Translating Reduction Ambitions into Policy Outcomes. The report provides in-depth insight into the global Food Loss and Waste (FLW) policy environment. It is based on an OECD survey conducted in 2023 among 42 national ministries and the European Commission.  

Overall, policy ambition has increased, and knowledge has improved. This follows the adoption of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 12.3 and stronger measurement processes and methods. At the same time, the report shows that attention is uneven across the supply chain. Few countries reported quantified reduction targets for stages before retail. As shown in Figure 1, primary production, or stage 1, received the least attention. It is also the least measured stage across OECD countries, as shown in Figure 2.

The chart shows that countries mainly rely on reporting and sampling to measure food loss and waste across the supply chain. Census methods are rarely used and appear only in a few cases, while “other” approaches play a smaller supporting role. Overall, it highlights that no single measurement method dominates, with countries instead using mixed approaches. 

Three structural challenges identified across OECD countries

Despite growing recognition of food loss as a structural issue, three systemic challenges remain. The first challenge is the lack of reliable measurement at the primary production stage. Many countries still do not have harmonized data on food losses at the farm level, and losses at this stage are often difficult to observe or consistently define. Differences in definitions of food loss across commodities and sectors further complicate international comparisons and weaken the ability to establish clear baselines. Without these baselines, governments struggle to design targeted interventions or monitor progress effectively. Stating this issue also gives the stakeholders in the Dutch Diamond a clearer shared purpose for where they could intervene, as it identifies a concrete gap in measurement systems that can be addressed through coordinated action on data, standards, and monitoring.

A second challenge is fragmented governance. Although it is widely recognized that food loss prevention requires a coordinated approach across sectors such as agriculture, climate policy, infrastructure planning, and trade regulation, government responsibilities are still typically divided across separate ministries. This persists because public administration is traditionally organized in sector-specific silos, each with its own objectives, budgets, and accountability structures.

As a result, ministries tend to prioritize their own policy goals rather than shared system-wide outcomes. In addition, coordinating across departments is administratively complex and politically costly, especially when benefits and costs are distributed unevenly. These structural incentives make it difficult to establish fully integrated governance, which can result in inconsistent or even contradictory policy signals.

A third challenge is the lack of economic incentives. Investments in better storage, precision harvesting, or cold chain infrastructure require capital. Where margins are already tight, farmers and small supply-chain actors may not have the financial flexibility to prioritize loss prevention without targeted support.

The role of farmers and supply-chain actors

Farmers remain central to prevention efforts. Food losses at the primary production stage can result from several factors, including: 

• weather variability and climate extremes;  
• labor shortages during peak harvest periods;  
• market standards that lead to produce being rejected;  
• limited access to storage or cooling infrastructure; and  
• logistical bottlenecks during transport.

OECD analysis ‘Making Better Policies for Food Systems’ consistently emphasizes that farmers cannot bear sole responsibility for food losses, as these are shaped by system-wide value chain conditions rather than on-farm decisions alone. Retail specifications, contract structures, insurance mechanisms, and export requirements all influence loss rates by affecting what is harvested, accepted, or discarded along the chain. OECD work on food systems resilience and sustainability therefore stresses that effective prevention requires a whole-of-chain approach, involving coordinated action across producers, processors, retailers, and regulators. Within this framework, innovations such as vacuum cooling, modular cold storage systems, sensor-based quality monitoring, and AI-driven logistics planning show strong potential to reduce losses. However, OECD discussions also underline that scaling these solutions depends on enabling policy environments, including aligned standards, investment incentives, and supportive infrastructure governance.

The added value of the LAN team at OECD

Operating within the OECD environment provides the Netherlands Agricultural Network (LAN) team at the Permanent Representation at OECD in Paris with a unique platform for international engagement. It offers direct access to multilateral policy dialogue and enables early involvement in the development of global standards, analytical frameworks, and policy approaches related to food systems. The added value of the team can be understood through four closely connected roles.

1. The team acts as a bridge between Dutch expertise and multilateral policy discussions. 
   The Netherlands has strong capabilities in areas such as post-harvest management, agrologistics, storage systems, and data-driven agricultural practices. Through OECD engagement, Dutch approaches to monitoring and reducing food loss are shared as examples of evidence-based policymaking. At the same time, innovations in cold chain logistics, storage efficiency, and integrated supply chain management are positioned within broader systemic food policy discussions.

2. The team translates OECD analysis into practical policy dialogue.  
   While OECD reports provide high-level strategic guidance, the LAN team helps convert these insights into actionable entry points for bilateral exchanges with member and partner countries. This includes promoting harmonized approaches to measurement, supporting improved coordination between ministries, and encouraging the use of policy instruments that incentivize food loss prevention.

3. The team contributes to policy coherence across sectors.  
   Food loss prevention is inherently cross-sectoral, linking agriculture, climate, trade, and development cooperation. The LAN team therefore supports the integration of food loss considerations into broader food system transformation agendas, ensuring that it is not treated as a standalone issue but as part of a wider sustainability transition.

4. The team identifies opportunities for Dutch stakeholders through international engagement.  Participation in OECD networks enables the exchange of knowledge and best practices, which can be translated into concrete opportunities. Dutch stakeholders –ranging from research institutions and public organizations to companies and knowledge partners – are well positioned to contribute scalable solutions. This strong position is rooted in the Netherlands’ efficient and export-oriented agri-food system, its advanced logistics infrastructure, and its long-standing tradition of collaboration between government, industry, and research. In practice, these opportunities include strengthening national monitoring systems, supporting improvements in cold chain infrastructure, contributing to capacity building in post-harvest management, and advancing digital and integrated supply chain solutions.

Current engagement and outlook for 2026

In 2026, food loss prevention remains a key priority on the OECD food systems agenda. Preventing food loss in primary production and the early stages of the supply chain is increasingly recognized as essential to building resilient food systems. It not only improves efficiency, but also contributes to food security, farmer livelihoods, and the protection of natural resources.

Reducing food loss globally creates clear opportunities for Dutch stakeholders across different domains. These include: 

• Technology and innovation: storage systems, cooling technologies, and climate-smart logistics solutions;  
• Knowledge and capacity building: monitoring frameworks, modelling tools, training programs, and advisory services;  
• System solutions: digital logistics, forecasting tools, and integrated supply chain approaches.

Against this backdrop, the LAN team at the OECD in Paris contributes actively to OECD discussions on policy coherence in food systems, including the alignment of agricultural reform with sustainability objectives. The team also aims to strengthen the connection between OECD analytical work and Dutch knowledge institutions, facilitate international exchange on innovation in agrologistics and cold chain systems, and embed food loss prevention more firmly in climate and biodiversity strategies. This is particularly relevant as the global policy debate is shifting from target-setting towards practical implementation, economic incentives, and governance reform.

More information

If you want to know more about the Dutch contribution to food loss prevention at the OECD, you can go to the page of the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands at OECD in Paris on this website. You can also send an email to the LAN team at the Permanent Representation at OECD in Paris: pao-lvvn@minbuza.nl.