Food Losses and Food Waste in China: A First Estimate

Abstract

Reducing food losses and food waste is attracting growing public attention at the international, regional, and national levels, and is widely acknowledged to contribute to abating interlinked sustainability challenges such as food security, climate change, and water shortage. However, the pattern and scale of food waste throughout the supply chain remains poorly understood for developing countries such as China, despite growing media coverage and public concerns in recent years. The data in the literature are either out of date or fragmented. This report presents estimates of food losses and food waste in China, based on literature data, informed estimates, and other publicly available information.