The Indian Council of Agriculture Research in collaboration with the Thünen Institute is organizing International Workshop on Food Loss and Waste Prevention in South Asian Region at National Agricultural Science Centre Complex, New Delhi from 30^th October to 1^st November, 2023.The workshop will be inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Agriculture& Farmers’Welfare, Sushri Shobha Karandlaje in the presence of Secretary,DARE – DG (ICAR),Dr. Himanshu Pathak and Research Director, Thünen Institute, Germany, Stefan Lange.

The workshop aims to address issues like Assessment and Impact of Postharvest Losses and Food Waste; Prevention of Postharvest Losses in the Supply Chain; Prevention of Food Waste in Households and Community Activities and Role of Food Bank Networks and Circular Economy. Participants in the workshop would be different types of stakeholders from the South Asian Countries viz. India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, etc. The participants would discuss impact of Food Loss & Waste on the economy, environment, and society in the South Asian Region and will share knowledge and expertise on methodologies to measure and assess food loss and waste. Further the knowledge on technologies, approaches, and strategies to prevent food loss and waste would also be shared along with success stories and case studies from different countries in the region.

The programme will include presentations from various stakeholders coming from South Asian Countries as well from Germany, USA and UN organizations. Besides there would be panel discussions on various issues and available solutions followed by visits to some organizations which have successfully addressed the issue of post-harvest losses and food wastage. Spectrum of delegates include stakeholders from industry, ICAR institutes, Agricultural Universities, Government agencies such as Food Corporation of India, Central Warehousing Corporation, IGNOU, IIT etc..

Post-harvest losses and Food Waste varies among geographies in the world. It largely depends on the crops and commodities, duration of storage, climate, technological interventions, human behaviour, traditions etc. During the G20-MACS held in Varanasi, India during April 2023; a bilateral meeting was held between India and Germany in which both the countries decided to organize a regional workshop to address the challenges of Food Loss and Waste understanding that despite the abundant agricultural production, a substantial amount of food is lost or wasted throughout the food supply chain, from production to consumption, and impacts food security and availability, environment, economy and the society; this hold higher significance for South Asian Region, which is a major food producer as well as consumer of food.

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