Bringing knowledge and consensus to prevent and reduce FOod LOss at the primary production stage. Understanding, measuring, training and adopting

Each year, a substantial amount of food loss (FL) is generated at the primary production stage; FL have negative impacts on the society, contributing to food insecurity, depleting the environment, generating avoidable GHG emissions and creating pressure on land and water.

Currently, key challenges hampering the reduction of FL are: regulatory challenges (e.g., exclusion of FL in the EU Commission Decision 2019/1597), technical challenges (e.g., lack of common measurement methodology, lack of cost-effective measurement tools), scientific challenges (e.g., lack of understanding of drivers) and social challenges (e.g., lack of skills of the different stakeholders involved).

FOLOU is willing to contribute in overcoming these challenges, being the main objective of the project to set up the necessary mechanisms to: (i) measure and estimate (robust and harmonized methodology), (ii) monitor and report (national and EU FL registries), and (iii) assess the magnitude and impact of FL.

Additionally, FOLOU will also work to assure the appropriate knowledge transfer and adoption of the project outcomes by the key targeted stakeholders: primary producers, retailers, consumers, policy makers and researchers.FOLOU will structure its activities in a comprehensive action plan revolving around four levers of change: 1#Understanding by working on collecting and curing FL available data, by working on understanding the drivers behind food losses and by assessing the impact of these losses; 2#Measuring by developing new cost-effective tools for the measurement/estimation of FL and a robust and harmonized methodology; 3#Training by providing tailored trainings to different stakeholders; 4#Adopting by preparing recommendations and creating a twinning programme.With a duration of 4-years, FOLOU gathers 16 multidisciplinary partners from 10 countries joining forces around a common challenge: Preventing and reducing the amount of food intended for human consumption that is eventually lost.