Our latest episode is with Joanne Muchai Murunga, the Chief Operating Officer at Kentaste, a leading producer of coconut products in Kenya. Kentaste supports economic development by connecting rural farmers to an international supply chain. Moreover, Kentaste has a focus on women’s empowerment, with women representing over 50% of their senior management. Kentaste is a recent awardee through the USAID Feed the Future Food Loss and Waste Partnership Facility. The FLWPartnership Facility provides catalytic co-investment to MSMEs in LMICs to scale innovations that reduce FLW with a focus on nutritious value chains. In this episode, Joanne and I discuss how the coconut value chain has been impacted by climate change, how Kentaste is working to reduce FLW, and how Kentaste is empowering women and improving the capacity of smallholder farmers.Over one-third of the world’s food is lost or wasted, undermining efforts to end hunger and malnutrition while contributing 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In low- and middle-income countries, over 40 percent of food loss occurs before a crop even makes it to market, whether due to inadequate storage, pests or microbes, spoilage, spillage in transport or otherwise. Eliminating food loss and waste (FLW) would provide enough food to feed two billion people, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing FLW is critical to global food security, nutrition and climate change mitigation, with the private sector engagement and women’s empowerment playing an important role in these efforts. In order to raise awareness, exchange information and share success stories, USAID’s Food Loss and Waste Community of Practice created the USAID Kitchen Sink Food Loss and Waste Podcast. Our goal is to share monthly, bite-sized episodes that highlight the approaches USAID and the U.S. government are taking to address FLW. We hope these episodes provide a valuable resource for those interested in why we should care about FLW and how we can reduce it. You can subscribe to receive the latest episodes of USAID’s Kitchen Sink and listen to our episodes on the platform of your choice: Apple, Spotify, and more! Video recordings of the episodes are available on YouTube. Check in every month for new episodes as global experts discuss a range of issues about FLW and methane emissions - from the critical role of youth to the staggering economic costs - and learn about specific ways that USAID is tackling FLW around the world. If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode is with Andrew Shakman, CEO of Leanpath, an industry leading food waste prevention platform. Together, we discuss the importance of food waste prevention, the need for improved and affordable measurement methods, and how to change kitchen culture to drive companies and consumers to recognize the value of food. Over one-third of the world’s food is lost or wasted, undermining efforts to end hunger and malnutrition while contributing 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In low- and middle-income countries, over 40 percent of food loss occurs before a crop even makes it to market, whether due to inadequate storage, pests or microbes, spoilage, spillage in transport or otherwise. Eliminating food loss and waste (FLW) would provide enough food to feed two billion people, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing FLW is critical to global food security, nutrition and climate change mitigation, with the need for prevention and improved measurement playing an important role in these efforts. In order to raise awareness, exchange information and share success stories, USAID’s Food Loss and Waste Community of Practice created the USAID Kitchen Sink Food Loss and Waste Podcast. Our goal is to share monthly, bite-sized episodes that highlight the approaches USAID and the U.S. government are taking to address FLW. We hope these episodes provide a valuable resource for those interested in why we should care about FLW and how we can reduce it. You can subscribe to receive the latest episodes of USAID’s Kitchen Sink and listen to our episodes on the platform of your choice: Apple, Spotify, and more! Video recordings of the episodes are available on YouTube. Check in every month for new episodes as global experts discuss a range of issues about FLW and methane emissions - from the critical role of youth to the staggering economic costs - and learn about specific ways that USAID is tackling FLW around the world. If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode is with Chris Somogyi, CEO of EverCase, a novel technology to reduce FLW by improving cold chain technology. Together, we discuss the challenges and opportunities in climate-smart cold chain and how to catalyze innovation and new technologies to reduce FLW.Over one-third of the world’s food is lost or wasted, undermining efforts to end hunger and malnutrition while contributing 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In low- and middle-income countries, over 40 percent of food loss occurs before a crop even makes it to market, whether due to inadequate storage, pests or microbes, spoilage, spillage in transport or otherwise. Eliminating food loss and waste (FLW) would provide enough food to feed two billion people, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing FLW is critical to global food security, nutrition and climate change mitigation, with climate-smart cold chain playing an important role in these efforts. In order to raise awareness, exchange information and share success stories, USAID’s Food Loss and Waste Community of Practice created the USAID Kitchen Sink Food Loss and Waste Podcast. Our goal is to share monthly, bite-sized episodes that highlight the approaches USAID and the U.S. government are taking to address FLW. We hope these episodes provide a valuable resource for those interested in why we should care about FLW and how we can reduce it. You can subscribe to receive the latest episodes of USAID’s Kitchen Sink and listen to our episodes on the platform of your choice: Apple, Spotify, and more! Video recordings of the episodes are available on YouTube. Check in every month for new episodes as global experts discuss a range of issues about FLW and methane emissions - from the critical role of youth to the staggering economic costs - and learn about specific ways that USAID is tackling FLW around the world. If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode is with Amanda Brondy, Vice President of International Projects at the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA). Together, we discuss how the work of GCCA contributes to FLW reduction, the importance of investing in climate-smart cold chain in emerging countries, and the opportunities for collaboration between cold chain companies and food banks to reduce FLW.Over one-third of the world’s food is lost or wasted, undermining efforts to end hunger and malnutrition while contributing 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In low- and middle-income countries, over 40 percent of food loss occurs before a crop even makes it to market, whether due to inadequate storage, pests or microbes, spoilage, spillage in transport or otherwise. Eliminating food loss and waste (FLW) would provide enough food to feed two billion people, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing FLW is critical to global food security, nutrition and climate change mitigation, with climate-smart cold chain playing an important role in these efforts. In order to raise awareness, exchange information and share success stories, USAID’s Food Loss and Waste Community of Practice created the USAID Kitchen Sink Food Loss and Waste Podcast. Our goal is to share monthly, bite-sized episodes that highlight the approaches USAID and the U.S. government are taking to address FLW. We hope these episodes provide a valuable resource for those interested in why we should care about FLW and how we can reduce it. You can subscribe to receive the latest episodes of USAID’s Kitchen Sink and listen to our episodes on the platform of your choice: Apple, Spotify, and more! Video recordings of the episodes are available on YouTube. Check in every month for new episodes as global experts discuss a range of issues about FLW and methane emissions - from the critical role of youth to the staggering economic costs - and learn about specific ways that USAID is tackling FLW around the world. If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).There’s no time to waste!

As we celebrate the fourth International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste today, it is important to highlight the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) theme “Reducing Food Loss and Waste: Taking Action to Transform Agrifood Systems.” Today’s special episode of the USAID Kitchen Sink FLW Podcast explores the economic case for FLW: what are the economic impacts, what are the trade-offs, and how can we achieve the economic benefits of reducing FLW. In this episode, FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero Cullen is interviewed by USAID Senior Science Advisor and FLW Co-Lead Ahmed Kablan. Together, we discuss the argument for investing in FLW reduction and the considerations for return on investment. We conclude our episode by announcing FAO’s new Food Loss App (FLAP), which can help farmers identify problem areas for food loss and offer videos and technical information to provide solutions to reduce FLW.

This month, USAID is hosting a Food Loss and Waste Theme Month on Agrilinks to recognize the fourth International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (FLW) and elevate the global conversation on FLW. To celebrate FLW Month, the USAID Kitchen Sink Podcast is publishing two special episodes in September. Our first episode is with Dana Gunders, Executive Director of ReFED, a unique organization with a large network collaborating across the food system to reduce FLW. Dana provides a “pulse check” on what is happening in the domestic FLW space and the role that ReFED plays. Together, we discuss what makes ReFED unique and how this model could be replicated in the countries in which USAID works. We conclude our conversation by discussing the importance of private sector investment in FLW reduction.You can subscribe to receive the latest episodes of USAID’s Kitchen Sink and listen to our episodes on the platform of your choice: Apple, Spotify, and more! Video recordings of the episodes are available on YouTube. Check in every month for new episodes as global experts discuss a range of issues about FLW and methane emissions - from the critical role of youth to the staggering economic costs - and learn about specific ways that USAID is tackling FLW around the world. If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).There’s no time to waste!

In this month’s episode of the USAID Kitchen Sink Food Loss and Waste Podcast, Anesu Mawire, Project Development Specialist in the Regional Economic Growth Office and Feed the Future Coordinator for USAID South Africa, speaks with Mandla Nkomo, Chief Growth Officer at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture’s Central Africa Hub. Anesu and Mandla discuss value addition at source and how this practice can reduce food loss and waste. Food is often produced at far distances from where it is consumed, so processing it where it is produced, or “at source,” can help protect the safety and quality of the food as it moves across the supply chain. By improving food safety, value addition at source can prevent food loss and waste. Anesu and Mandla also discuss how women and youth can be engaged in value addition at source and the importance of increasing access to finance. Are you interested in participating in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink to share how you are tackling FLW by preventing, inspiring, and repurposing? Please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).There’s no time (or food) to waste!

As the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktaking Moment concludes in Rome, we must continue to shine a light on the problem of food loss and waste (FLW) that strains our food systems and our climate. As the world faces the two interconnected crises of a changing climate and food insecurity, one-third of the global food supply is wasted or lost, severely hampering our efforts to end hunger, fight malnutrition, and mitigate climate change. Rotting food also emits methane – a powerful greenhouse gas with 84 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. As a result, FLW contributes approximately 8-10% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. If FLW were a country, it would be the third largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world after the U.S. and China. UNEP estimates that FLW is associated with methane emissions near 50 Mt/yr2. This is why we need to act now, initiatives to reduce food loss and waste are critical to combat climate change and improve the overall health of our environment.This month’s episode of the USAID Kitchen Sink Food Loss and Waste Podcast features a discussion on FLW’s contribution to methane emissions with Malick Haidara, Senior Climate and Energy Advisor and Methane Coordinator at USAID, and Eleni Michalopoulou, a Research Associate at the Stockholm Environment Institute and co-author of the UNEP Global Methane Assessment. Eleni shares the link between FLW and methane as well as the major findings of the UNEP Global Methane Assessment. Malick shares USAID’s efforts to mitigate methane emissions, through the food systems and agriculture, waste and landfill management, and energy pathways. Malick and Eleni conclude their conversation with a discussion of the role of the private sector in reducing FLW and accomplishing the Methane Pledge.

Our latest episode is with Walker Lambert of Pierce Mill, part of the consortium for the Feed the Future food safety program Evidence and Action Towards Safe, Nutritious Foods (EatSafe), which operates in Nigeria and Ethiopia and aims to increase consumer demand for safer food in the traditional markets, where millions of people buy and sell food every day. Progress in food safety efforts, such as utilizing best practices to increase food safety, can simultaneously decrease food waste and loss generated in local markets. As part of EatSafe’s programmatic design, uncovering stories from people living in and around the target markets is essential; EatSafe discovered these stories, which cross borders between food safety, loss and waste, through a technique called story sourcing. These stories shined a light on nuances of the community and the relationship to the market that more formalized data collections missed. Join us as we delve into this compelling story and its implications for food safety, and food loss and waste around the world.Read up on all of the stories collected by EatSafe: eatsafe-storysourcing.org

Our latest episode is with Adil Daniel, Food Security and Water Stewardship Coordinator of the Food and Markets Program of WWF Pakistan. Adil shares the work WWF Pakistan has done to measure FLW and inform policy. We explore how WWF Pakistan conducted baseline measurements of FLW among tomatoes and rice using questionnaires and interviews. Adil explains how WWF Pakistan has advocated for FLW policy through workshops, consumer awareness campaigns, and other social media platforms.

To celebrate Stop Food Waste Day, our latest episode of the USAID Kitchen Sink Food Loss and Waste Podcast is with Pete Pearson, the Global Lead for Food Loss and Waste at World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Pete and Ahmed Kablan, Senior Science Advisor at USAID, discuss how addressing FLW can serve as a catalyst for sustainable food systems, forcing us to measure the impact of food systems on the environment. Pete shares the collaborative global network of WWF, which includes 80 offices worldwide. This network helps WWF tackle FLW to increase sustainability and preserve biodiversity. Lastly, we wrap up our episode with Pete’s wishlist of the top 2-3 advances he’d like to see in FLW and circular economy. 

Our latest episode is with David Davies, the founder of AgUnity, which is using smartphone technology to combat poverty and reduce FLW among smallholder farmers and their communities. David shares opportunities for tapping into digital and traceability technology to reduce FLW. We explore a case study of how digital technology can facilitate “triple wins” of increasing access to safe and nutritious food, safeguarding farmer livelihoods and profits, and reducing methane emissions by improving traceability across multiple agricultural supply chains. More information on AgUnity can be found in this short video.

Our latest episode is with Thoric Cederstrom, Director of Research and Learning for Food Enterprise Solutions, which implements the Feed the Future Business Drivers for Food Safety (BD4FS) Project. BD4FS works with food businesses to adopt safer food handling practices to increase access to affordable, safe, and nutritious food. Thoric and Lourdes Martinez Romero, Senior Advisor in the USAID Center for Nutrition’s Food Safety Division, discuss the role of the private sector in reducing FLW and how improving food safety practices are a key part of this. 

Our latest episode with Jacob Ricker-Gilbert, Wyatt Pracht, and Patrick Ketiem of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Processing and Post Harvest Handling (FPIL) explores the role of youth in reducing food loss and waste. The speakers share findings from a recent project conducted in Kenya, an area where youth unemployment and smallholder farmers lacking access to agricultural inputs are two major challenges. To try and address these issues, the project conducted a randomized control trial with agricultural youth clubs to train 397 youths in business concepts, FLW reduction management and gender considerations; Youth were also linked with agricultural input suppliers and provided the opportunity to sell post-harvest inputs that included hermetic bags and low-cost moisture meters called hygrometers. The study increased access to inputs that help reduce FLW and increased the incomes of certain youth. The median youth who participated in the project gained an $10 additional monthly income. For more information, read the recent blog from FPIL.

Our latest episode with Dina Esposito, who leads USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, explores the Agency’s prioritization of and approach to addressing FLW, which produces “triple wins” on climate, nutrition and food security, sustainable food systems, and economic development, especially in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the global food security crisis. Listen on as Dina and Ann Vaughan, Senior Advisor for Climate Change, share USAID’s FLW funding and programming that engages women and youth.If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).There’s no time to waste!

The USAID Research Community of Practice Sub-Group on Food Loss and Waste (FLW) aims to share research and knowledge with USAID staff and implementing partners interested in the implications of and approaches to addressing FLW. In this episode of the monthly FLW Podcast, Nika Larian, AAAS Fellow in the USAID Center for Nutrition, interviews Jagger Harvey, a Research Professor at Kansas State University and Director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss (PHL-IL). This episode explores the work done under the PHL-IL to address food loss and waste. Jagger shares examples from the field that aim to improve food security and discusses the research gaps that remain. For more information on the podcast or to be involved, contact Nika Larian at USAID (Nlarian@usaid.gov).

The USAID Research Community of Practice Sub-Group on Food Loss and Waste (FLW) aims to share research and knowledge with USAID staff and implementing partners interested in the implications of and approaches to addressing FLW. In this episode of the monthly USAID FLW Podcast, Kelley Cormier, Food Safety Division Chief at USAID, interviews Ignacio Gavilan of the Consumer Goods Forum. Ignacio shares his perspectives on the role of the private sector in reducing FLW and the potential trade-offs to be considered. Additionally, the importance of date labeling in FLW efforts is explored. For more information on the podcast or contribute to an episode, contact Nika Larian at USAID (Nlarian@usaid.gov).

The USAID Research Community of Practice Sub-Group on Food Loss and Waste (FLW) aims to share research and knowledge with USAID staff and implementing partners interested in the implications of and approaches to addressing FLW. In this episode of the monthly USAID FLW Podcast, Nika Larian, Food Loss and Waste Advisor at USAID, interviews Rusty Eason, a technical advisor with Brighthouse working with Food Enterprise Solutions with over 30 years of experience in the cold chain industry.Rusty shares the important role that the cold chain plays in reducing FLW and the challenges that exist, including transportation, which is the “weak link” in the supply chain most likely to break the cold chain. We explore the business case for the profitability of investing in and implementing cold chain technologies.For more information on the podcast or contribute to an episode, contact Nika Larian at USAID (Nlarian@usaid.gov).

The USAD Research Community of Practice Sub-Group on Food Loss and Waste (FLW) aims to share research and knowledge with USAID staff and implementing partners interested in the implications of and approaches to addressing FLW. In this episode of the monthly FLW Podcast, Ann Vaughan, Senior Advisor for Climate Change at USAID, interviews Liz Goodwin, Senior Fellow and Director of Food Loss and Waste at the World Resources Institute (WRI). Liz shares the “101” on FLW- what it is, why should USAID Missions and IPs care about it, and what can we do to help reduce it. For more information on the podcast or to be involved, contact Nika Larian at USAID (Nlarian@usaid.gov).