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AgLab CX: An innovation platform to address Food Loss and Waste in China

chinagate.cn, June 14, 2017 Adjust font size:

In order to meet the world’s Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger by 2030, innovation will be a major tool including for reducing food loss and waste in China, participants at the innovation brainstorming session heard on June 13 in Beijing.

The Innovation Lab (AgLab CX) Session on Reducing Food Loss and Waste in China was held in Beijing today, co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Tsinghua University, with funding support from Robam and Bottledream.

FAO China successfully held a public event on food loss and waste in Shanghai on 20 May this year. It started FAO’s journey to innovate on promoting inclusive and sustainable food system in China. This Innovation Brainstorming Session has been another important experiment in which participants were able to have an open discussion and draw on collective wisdom under the guidance of experts and mentors, explore prototypes and develop innovative tools, to identify solutions for reducing food loss and waste.

Over 40 delegates from international organizations, government, academia, media, and private sector participated in the event. The discussions focused on reducing food loss and waste along the entire food supply chain using innovative tools such as design thinking and ICTs.

Vincent Martin, FAO Representative in China, called for co-creation of solution and innovation in reducing food loss and waste, and wishes that today will be the beginning of a fruitful journey towards more innovation solutions in the areas of sustainable agriculture development.

Most innovative solutions selected

During the brainstorming session, participants came up with four solutions to food loss and waste.  Experts will later help to develop these innovative ideas into reality for prototyping and scaling up.

Food loss and waste represents one of the most pressing challenge of our time. It is estimated that up to one third of all food is spoiled or squandered before it is consumed by people, which amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year. Food waste is also prevalent in China as we can imagine food table waste alone. FAO estimates that about 80Kg of food per capita per year is wasted in more developed Asia countries, including China.