Preventing food losses and waste to achieve food security and sustainability

"World hunger is on the rise for the first time in decades and crop yields are on the decline. With a rapidly exploding world population we are heading toward a disastrous food shortage crisis. Since one-third of the food that we already produce is lost between the time it is harvested and consumed substantially more of this lost food must be saved to avoid a major global food crisis. ‘Preventing food losses and waste’ (ed. Yahia) provides a comprehensive compilation of the resources and programs available globally to substantially and sustainably reduce postharvest food loss and waste." Dr Charles L. Wilson, Founder and CEO - World Food Preservation Center LLC, USA This book provides a comprehensive review of the causes and prevention of food losses and waste (FLW) at key steps in the supply chain. The book begins by defining what is meant by food losses and waste and then assessing current research on its economic, environmental and nutritional impact. Part 2 assesses what we know about FLW at different stages in the supply chain, from cultivation, harvesting and storage, through processing and distribution to retail and consumer use. The third part of the book looks at FLW for particular commodities, including cereals and grains, fresh fruit and vegetables, roots and tubers, oilseeds and tubers, meat and dairy products, and fish and seafood products. Part 4 discusses general approaches to reducing FLW, including education and recycling campaigns, whilst the final section in the book reviews the effectiveness of campaigns to reduce FLW in regions such as North and Latin America, Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and, sub-Saharan Africa. With its breadth of coverage and expertise, this will be a standard reference for all those interested in understanding and preventing food losses and waste. Professor Elhadi M. Yahia is Professor and Senior Research Scientist at the Autonomous University of Querétaro, Mexico. He is also a Courtesy Professor at the University of Florida, USA. Prof. Yahia has published 20 books in 3 languages and more than 300 book chapters and articles on post-harvest handling of fresh produce. He has worked at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) where he helped launch the Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction. He has served as a consultant to many organizations such as the FAO, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the World Food Logistics Organization (WFLO), USAID, USDA and ICARDA. He is member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences, the New York Academy of Sciences, The Scientific Research Society (Sigma Xi) and The Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) of the World Food Logistics Organization.