(AGENPARL) – Tue 23 September 2025 International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste 2025
Global virtual event | Monday, 29 September 2025 | 13:30–15:30 (Rome time) – The event will be webcast live here.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), will mark the sixth observance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW) on 29 September 2025.
On this occasion, a clear call will be made for urgent action to expand and strengthen efforts – individually and collectively – to reduce food loss and waste for the benefit of the climate, the environment, and toward ensuring a food secure world now and in the future.
FAO’s modelled estimates indicate that globally, approximately 13 percent of food is lost after harvest and before reaching retail, while an estimated 19 percent of food is wasted at the household, food service and retail levels (UNEP, 2024). Households alone account for nearly 60 percent of total food waste.
Food loss and waste (FLW) is enshrined in Goal 12, target three of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or SDG 12.3, which aims to “halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030.”
Reducing food loss and waste is central to securing efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems by protecting natural resources, cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, protecting biodiversity, reducing pollution, and maximising the use of food produced, thereby improving food security, nutrition, and health.
The virtual event will include video messages from FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen. Country-level case studies from Ethiopia, Thailand, Argentina and the Dominican Republic will highlight concrete actions taken to measurably reduce food loss and waste.
A panel discussion will feature successes achieved by public and private institutions in reducing food waste. Key takeaways will be delivered by FAO’s Chief Economist, Máximo Torero.
A one-day exhibition to mark the observance of the Day will also be inaugurated earlier in the day at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.
The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW) was established in 2019 through UN General Assembly resolution 74/209, which designated 29 September as the annual day to promote global awareness of the problem and its possible solutions at all levels.
RESOURCES
IDAFLW website
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
@FAO @FAOSocioEcon
#FLWDay #StopFoodLossWaste
FOLLOW THE EVENT
Follow the webcast live here.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information or to request interviews with FAO experts, please contact:
Journalists & editors:
Online tools:
Photos via the FAOnews Flickr account
RSS feed of FAO news releases