New study about food waste in the retail sector in Bogota, Colombia reminds how serious the problem in the Latin-American megacity is

Food waste in the global agenda and the P4G Platform

The research arises from the sense of urgency given by the UN after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in 2015. The SDGs outline specific targets that require the commitment of governments, the private sector and civil society, to be achieved by 2030. SDG 12 on “responsible production and consumption” includes target 12.3, which establishes that by 2030 the global per capita food waste at retail and consumer levels will be halved. Similarly, with the recent adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022, food waste was addressed in target 16 about responsible consumption, which established the commitment to "[...] reduce the global footprint of consumption in an equitable manner, including through halving global food waste [...]" by 2030.

The need to feed a growing population – trending to a higher urban density – and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the greatest challenges of our time. This challenge is compounded by the paradoxical reality that approximately one-third of the food produced globally is lost and wasted. Although the precise magnitudes of Food Loss and Waste (FLW) are still uncertain – due to the lack of unified methodologies and because the efforts of countries to begin measuring them are recent – it is estimated that the FLW in the world could feed the more than 2 billion people who are currently food insecure. Likewise, globally, it is estimated that food waste generates between 8% and 10% of GHG emissions and represents USD 1 trillion in economic losses. If food waste was a country, it would be the third largest GHG emitter after China and the US, states the study. This ever-growing FLW phenomenon not only raises fundamental questions about the efficiency of our food systems, but also highlights the urgent need to address this problem comprehensively, strategically and with concrete actions.

Therefore, and in line with SDG 17 “Partnerships to achieve the goals”, the platform "Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 – P4G” was created to forge public-private alliances to foster compliance with the SDGs, with a strong focus on transition towards a low carbon economy. Colombia was one of the prioritised countries for the launch of the P4G platform. In this context, and supported by the P4G platform’s resources, the strategic alliance between Conexión Latinoamérica and EatCloud was born. This alliance supported the study on food waste with the firm conviction of contributing to the environmental sustainability of Colombia and with the aim to be a driving force towards a future where food waste is an overcome problem, and environmental sustainability is the norm in food resource management.

The study on Food Waste in the retail sector in Bogota

In 2022, Colombia adopted an official definition of the concept of Food Waste by law. According to it, while food loss occurs in the first stages of the food supply chain, food waste occurs in the last links of the chain, i.e. in retail distribution and consumption. The retail sector is defined as the sector made up of organisations that sell food as goods, such as: supermarkets, marketplaces, private fruit and vegetable markets (known as Fruvers), excluding those dedicated to the sale of food services such as those belonging to the Horeca (hotels, restaurants, café’s) sector. The focus on this sector contributes to the study of the problem of food waste from an understudied perspective, since the evidence suggests that most studies on food waste usually focus on actors in the Horeca sector and households. Besides, food waste in Colombia’s legislation is further divided into avoidable and unavoidable waste as depicted in the graph below:

Regarding the calculation of food waste, although several analysts agree that the figures are underestimated, the first approximation carried out by the National Planning Department (DNP) in 2016 showed that food waste in one year in Colombia is approximately 3.54 million tonnes of which 20.6% (approximately 2.01 million tons) occurs in the distribution and retail. Besides, 87% of this amount corresponded to fruits, vegetables, and cereals.

The production of lost or wasted food i.e. food that is not consumed, has different environmental, social, and economic implications. These implications include the waste of resources (energy, natural, non-renewable, time) used to produce food; the pressure that food production exerts on the environment (soil degradation, constant use of natural resources, expansion of the agricultural frontier, among others); FLW as the generation of organic waste (and the challenges involved in properly managing landfills or re-entering them as energy or fertiliser in production cycles); the economic loss from products withdrawn from sale; and, the incoherence between the generation of FLW and the unmet food needs of various population sectors, which lead to being and remaining in a condition of food and nutritional insecurity. This situation is depicted in the graph below.

Despite the seriousness of the issue, the study found that the analysis and legislation on food waste in Colombia have not been robust or deep enough. Hence, the main objective of the research was to analyse food waste in Colombia with a focus on the retail sector and special emphasis on Bogotá. To do so, the research began with a mapping of stakeholders which are (directly and indirectly) linked to the reduction of food waste. It also included an analysis of the regulatory framework (both national and district level) on issues of sanitary requirements and the fight against food waste. Likewise, the study analysed the actions of the retail sector regarding the management of foods that cannot be marketed and identified concrete solutions and strategies that can promote more efficient and sustainable practices in food management and reduce waste in the retail sector. Lastly, it provided concrete recommendations to public, private and civil society actors involved in this issue for the effective reduction of food waste.

Although it may seem obvious, one of the main recommendations of the study was to understand that food waste is not a static phenomenon, but a dynamic one. This is because the research identified that institutional approaches to the problem with formulations such as ‘zero waste’ or under prohibitive or punitive approaches, may be the reason why the different bills to combat food waste proposed in the Colombian Congress have been rejected. If you are interested in the rest of the recommendations and the other chapters of the study, please click on the following link and download the Spanish and English versions in the resources section:

Food waste in the retail sector of Bogotá, Colombia – Resilience

Beyond strengthening the food rescue ecosystem – which is the driving force of the P4G alliance between Conexión Latinoamérica and EatCloud – this research sought to generate knowledge, expand the conversation, and make visible the problem of food waste, for which recommendations were provided for various strategic actors pertaining to both the public and private sphere, as well as civil society.

If you are interested in knowing more about the study, contact the research team at colombia@resiliencebv.com and andressantana55@gmail.com