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Agriculture and Food Systems Need to Shift to Energy-Smart Models, Food Losses too High, Says FAO

The dependence of the global food system on fossil fuels limits its ability to feed a world population, says Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in its report and agriculture and food systems need to move toward new models that are "energy-smart." 

Among the challenges that global food production faces is to "decouple food prices" from "fluctuating" and increasing prices of fossil fuels.

Although the food sector requires energy, it can also produce it. According to FAO, the energy-smart approach offers a better way to benefit from the "dual relationship" between food and energy.

The food sector accounts for 30% of worldwide energy consumption and emits more than 20% of worldwide greenhouse gases.

The food sector needs to "learn how to use energy more wisely," said Alexander Mueller from FAO adding that existing farming as well as processing practices can be modified to be "less energy intensive" at little or no cost.

Commodity prices are linked with energy prices, says FAO. When energy prices fluctuate so do prices of food.

Also, one-third of all food that is produced for human consumption is wasted or lost. So is the energy that is embedded in the food production, the FAO report reveals.

The amount of energy that is embedded in lost and wasted food is substantial. In the United States alone, the food losses account for approximately 2% of total yearly energy consumption.

And the energy that is embedded in global yearly food losses is estimated at 38% of the total energy consumed by the entire food chain.

Just a 10% decrease in food losses and use of more local fresh foods would reduce energy demands.

To transition to agricultural sector that is energy-smart will be an enormous "undertaking," says FAO with the "key question" for Mr. Mueller from FAO being not when or if to start the transition to energy-smart food production but instead how to begin and make progress.

The impact of global food waste and loss on hunger and poverty in the world, as well as on the natural resources use and climate change cannot be overlooked.

The food losses - 1.3 billion tons per year - occur along the entire food production and chain, from agricultural production to final household consumption.

The food losses are high in developing and industrialized countries; however while in the industrialized economies some 40% of food losses are at consumer level, in the developing countries the same percentage of the food losses are at post- harvest and later at processing and production levels.

In other words, in high and medium income economies food is wasted to a great extent when it can still be used for human consumption. The food loss mainly relates to consumer behavior. However, this is not the case in the low-income economies in which much less food is lost or wasted at the level of consumer.