FDBusiness.com

Initiative now has more than 350 sponsors from business, NGOs and research.

With the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) the SAVE FOOD initiative has gained a high-profile partner with political backing. The number of members who have committed to fighting food waste and loss has now risen to 120. They come mainly from the industrial sector, including both individual companies and industry associations. This number is swelled by some 230 NGOs and
research establishments which are registered through the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The GIZ is the first organisation with close ties to the German government to become a member.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH
supports the German Government in achieving its objectives in the field
of international cooperation for sustainable development. The reduction
of food losses is an important field of action for many projects in
developing countries that promote agricultural value chains. In this
context, public-private partnerships play an important role. In February
2015, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ) has therefore commissioned GIZ to become a partner of the Save
Food Initiative.
The engagement shown by industry in fighting food loss and waste will
also be a focus at the SAVE FOOD Meeting 2015 that will be hosted by
Nestlé in Vevey, Switzerland, on 12 May. Decision-makers from industry,
science and research, policy-makers and individuals from civil society
will be gathering at this event to engage in constructive dialogue under
the motto “Private Sector support for food loss and waste reduction
projects”. Facilitating the networking of these different companies and
institutions with the aim of providing a platform for generating concrete
actions is one of the core objectives of the SAVE FOOD initiative.

The food value chain in developing countries in the Sub-Saharan region
and the reduction of food losses there will then be a focus in the autumn
at the third Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum (FPPE) in Nairobi,
Kenya, from 3 to 5 November 2015. This trade fair with symposium
sheds light on the entire process – from the first processing stages to
filling and packaging to logistics – against the backdrop of the different
local business structures, developments and needs. The FAO, as a
partner of the SAVE FOOD initiative, will be organising the agenda for
one of the three days of the conference. GIZ will be delivering one of the
presentations on this theme at the FPPE.