On reducing postharvest food losses

1. Integrated approaches to reduce
postharvest losses and food waste
Sustainable Food Supply, Processing & Products
May 2nd 2015, Eelke Westra

2. Content
 Setting the Stage
 Challenges
 Figures
 Reasons
 Organisational Framework
 Wageningen UR
 Postharvest Network
 Solutions
 Levels
 Disciplines
 Examples
 Resume

3. World challenge: global food security
Growth of world
population
UrbanizationVolatility of food prices
H2O
N
P
K
Efficient use of
available resources

4. Food losses: what are we talking about?
 For non-human uses
 Non-edible
 Harvest losses
 Postharvest losses
 Process losses
 Distribution losses
 Consumer waste

5. Content
 Setting the Stage
 Challenges
 Figures
 Reasons
 Organisational Framework
 Wageningen UR
 Postharvest Network
 Solutions
 Levels
 Disciplines
 Examples
 Resume

6.  Loss of economic value: 750 billion US $ (FAO, EIU)
Why are food losses an issue?
 Loss of nutritional value - kcal lost or wasted: 63% for
roots and tubers, 42% for fruits & vegetables (WRI)
 Environmental impact on climate and availability of
resources (energy, water, land, nutrients)
● 64 litres of water for 1kg of tomato
 Food security impact: even if just one-fourth of the food
currently lost or wasted globally could be saved, it would
be enough to feed 870 million hungry people in the
world (FAO)
 Food losses and waste go against ethical/moral values
20.0
55.0
67.5
135.0
142.5
157.5
172.5
Oilcrops and pulses
Milk and eggs
Roots & tubers
Cereals
Fruits
Meat
Vegetables
Global economic costs of food wastage and losses, by
commodity, 2007
US$ bn

7. 1/3 of all food produced is lost or wasted
7

8. Content
 Setting the Stage
 Challenges
 Figures
 Reasons
 Organisational Framework
 Wageningen UR
 Postharvest Network
 Solutions
 Levels
 Disciplines
 Examples
 Resume

9. Pre-harvest losses
Postharvest losses reasons
Postharvest losses Waste
 Climate
 Soil
 Nutrients/fertilisation
 Pests
 Poor farm management
 Selection of varieties
Etc.
 Pests
 Poor crop handling
 Cold chain (absence)
 Packaging
 Postharvest
management
(knowledge!)
 “The market”
 Supply-demand relation
Etc.
 Spoilage
 Awareness
 Knowledge (!)
 Cold chain
 Consumer=spoiled
 Planning
Etc.

10. Top-10 category causes postharvest losses F+V
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Storagefacilities
Coldchains/transportclimatecontrol
Producthandling/grading/sizing
Packaging
Infrastructurequality/connectivity
Marketinfo/pricing
Processnigcapacity
Education/R&D
Investment/credit
access
qualitystandards
numberofreferences
causecategory

11. Content
 Setting the Stage
 Challenges
 Figures
 Reasons
 Organisational Framework
 Wageningen UR
 Postharvest Network
 Solutions
 Levels
 Disciplines
 Examples
 Resume

12. living
environment
The Wageningen UR domain:
healthy food and living environment
food and food
production
health, lifestyle
and livelihood
 Sustainable agriculture
 Nutrition and health
 Sustainable fishery
 Biomass
 Chains
 Marine resource
management
 Landscape and land use
 Nature & Biodiversity
 Water management
 Competing claims
 Behaviour and perception
 Food security
 Institutions
 Consumer
 Citizen

13. Wageningen UR
 Research
● Top 3 in our domains
● Top 100 worldwide in
university ranking
● Exploitation and
valorisation of research
 Education
● > 11,000 students
● > 6,000 faculty and staff
● Turnover € 657 million
 International orientation

14. Dutch collaboration model
Combining strengths
in cooperation within
the “Golden Triangle”

15. Content
 Setting the Stage
 Challenges
 Figures
 Reasons
 Organisational Framework
 Wageningen UR
 Postharvest Network
 Solutions
 Levels
 Disciplines
 Examples
 Resume

16. The Postharvest Network
Proven methods and
systems leading to
value creation in supply
chain
3: GOVERNMENT
One of the most effective
governments in the world
(Worldbank, 2011)
1: INDUSTRY
Three sectors
collaborating for best
results and increased
value
Integrated, multi-
disciplinary research
teams
2: UNIVERSITIES
Aim: To reduce 25% of Postharvest Losses

17. Content
 Setting the Stage
 Challenges
 Figures
 Reasons
 Organisational Framework
 Wageningen UR
 Postharvest Network
 Solutions
 Levels
 Disciplines
 Examples
 Resume

18. 18

19. Micro Meso Macro
Investments
Private
investments
• Collective private
investments
• Public investments
• Support to financial
mechanisms
• Infrastructure
Good practices Good practices
• Capacity building
• Training
• Support to capacity
building
Behavioral change
Behavioral
change in
businesses and
consumers
• Corporate social
responsibility
• Community and local
engagement
• Raising awareness
• Multi-stakeholder
initiatives
Coordination inside
food chains
• Food chain approach
• Relationships with
other actors
• Enabling
environment
Valorization of food
and byproducts
• Valorization of
surplus foods and
byproducts
• Hierarchy of uses
Coordination of
policies and actions
• Policies
• Multi-stakeholder
Initiatives
Categories
Levels
Categories
of solutions to reduce FLW

20. Postharvest Network Process

21. Content
 Setting the Stage
 Challenges
 Figures
 Reasons
 Organisational Framework
 Wageningen UR
 Postharvest Network
 Solutions
 Levels
 Disciplines
 Examples
 Resume

22. Product
TechnologyLogistics
Multi- and inter disciplinary approach

23. Postharvest quality and logistics
Quality
Fenotype
Genotype
Growing
conditions Postharvest &
Logisitics

24. Postharvest Quality  ∆ Q, ∆t = €
∆Q
∆t

25. Content
 Setting the Stage
 Challenges
 Figures
 Reasons
 Organisational Framework
 Wageningen UR
 Postharvest Network
 Solutions
 Levels
 Disciplines
 Examples
 Resume

26. Genotype and Firmness
4 varieties
2 colour stages
 Variety differences
 Shelf life: 6 tot > 45
 Firmness on day 1 poor
correlation with firmness
development

27. Logistics and Chain conditions
Temperature
Storage &
Distribution
[days]
8°C 10°C 12°C 18°C
9 ++ ++ + ---
11 ++ + + ---
14 + + --- / + ---
17 + --- / + --- ---
19 --- / + --- / + --- ---

28. Packaging
 Fit logistical system
 Enables optimal
conditioning

29. Content
 Setting the Stage
 Challenges
 Figures
 Reasons
 Organisational Framework
 Wageningen UR
 Postharvest Network
 Solutions
 Levels
 Disciplines
 Examples
 Resume

30. Resume
 Losses up to 45%
● Incentive to reduce this
 Multi-stakeholder problem on different levels
● Collaboration needed!
 Solutions require multi-disciplinary approach
● Wageningen UR provides the required knowledge
and disciplines
 No more Food to Waste Conference 16 to 19 June
● The Hague, The Netherlands
● www.nomorefoodtowaste.nl
30

31. Thank you
Contact
Food & Biobased
Research
PO Box 17
6700 AA Wageningen
Eelke.Westra@wur.nl
© Wageningen UR 2015