The world is reeling from three crises: environmental; loss of biodiversity; and poverty. Food systems contribute greatly to all.
In the climate crisis, about 30 percent, or a third, of total greenhouse gases (GHG’s) come from food systems. A recent FAO study shows emissions from pre- and post-production processes in the food environment, such as the production of fertilizers, food processing, packaging, transportation, retail, household consumption and disposal of food waste, doubled between 1990 and 2019 and is on course to overtake emissions due to land use change. For example, the decomposition of solid food waste in landfills and open dumpsites is a significant emitter of methane, a GHG whose global warming potential is 28-34 times that of CO2. Businesses largely manage pre- and post-production processes and thus play an important role in cutting GHGs in this part of the food system.
In terms of biodiversity, food production drives the loss of biodiversity through habitat loss – clearing of forests, wetlands and grasslands. A recent study by the University of Maryland and WRI shows 252 million hectares of land – an area the size of Egypt – has been turned into crops since the beginning of the 21st century. About half of that, 131 million hectares, occurs in Africa. Food systems contribute to the pollution of soils, water bodies through chemicals used in agriculture. The latter also kill biodiversity that is beneficial to agriculture, such as pollinators, threatening the sustainability of food systems.
For people, food and nutrition insecurity continues to rise in poor countries despite sufficient global food production. According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World in 2022 report, hunger affects an average of 765 million people worldwide in 2021. Of these, 278 million are in Africa (20.2 percent of the population). The world produces 1.5 times enough food to feed everyone on the planet, but poverty and inequality prevent most of the world’s poor from accessing food. Global trade policies exacerbate poverty and inequality by allocating food and agricultural inputs to already wealthy sections of society. This fuels the poverty-environment nexus — where communities in poor countries clear natural habitats to feed themselves, with negative environmental impacts. These negative cycles can be stopped if governments and businesses, adopt zero food waste policies.
The main solution to these problems is a circular food system. This construct consists of three principles: producing food in ways that protect and regenerate the environment; addressing the challenge of food loss and food waste; add converting materials that would otherwise have been wasted into useful products.
WRI Africa works with governments, development partners and businesses to catalyze circular food systems in Africa. For example, through the circular food systems project in Rwanda, the project partners are pioneering new ways to accelerate business growth for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), through a technical advisory facility which connects SMEs with knowledge, tools and circularity opportunities. The project creates market links with anchor firms and finance providers so that SMEs can get the full technical and financial support needed to develop their circular food business. In its advanced phase, it will create a supportive enabling environment for the circular economy for food through intelligent policy design. While the project is still in its early stages, evidence from the first year of implementation points to important ways businesses can build circular food systems.
How businesses can help catalyze a circular food system
1. Pay the premium
First, companies must source products from – and pay a premium for – food produced in ways that protect and regenerate the environment.
Smallholder farmers are trained by several organizations to develop sustainable land management practices that increase food production while cutting environmentally harmful inputs. However, the use of these technologies remains poor in Africa and other parts of the developing world. These technologies are often labor and knowledge intensive, but farmers who adopt them do not necessarily get economic rewards from the market. Besides, businesses that invest in agricultural chemical inputs are aggressively lobbying for policy and price incentives to make their products more accessible to farmers.
If businesses can shift their models and compensate farmers who adopt sustainable land management practices, as well as shift from harmful environmental inputs to beneficial ones, it will create a pull in market and lead to greater adoption of these practices and products by farmers. We have witnessed the main players in the agri-food sector becoming increasingly aware and beginning to make these transitions, but progress is slow and uneven. Considering the rapid rates of climate change, loss of biodiversity and impacts on human health, a faster transition is needed.
2. Invest in innovations to address food loss
Businesses interested in reducing food loss and waste can do so through a three-step approach: measurement; target; and act. And we need innovations in all three areas. Measurement allows targeting actions where they are most needed in the food chain.
Many innovations for reducing food loss at the post-harvest level are continuously being tested and applied by businesses around the world with varying degrees of success. Every food chain – dairy, grain, fruit, etc. – is different. For example, the use of cold chain logistics that connects harvested products to consumers, has been successfully used in developed countries, but remains less adopted in poor countries due to poor access to energy and infrastructure. Besides, cold chain systems usually use high global warming potential refrigerants and grid electricity based on fossil-fuels, or off-grid diesel-based generation and transportation, which means that one solves one problem (food loss) while creating another (greenhouse). gases). Businesses can invest in renewable energy cold chain facilities suitable for many tropical countries. For example, in much of sub-Saharan Africa with high potential for solar and geothermal energy, it is possible to move to cold chain facilities that use these forms of energy, which will significantly reduce the reliance on fossils. Partnerships between research institutions, business and government, such as the African Center of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain (ACES) in Rwanda, can accelerate the transition to affordable, low carbon emission cooling and cold chain systems throughout continent, creating circular food. possible systems.
3. Invest in the circularity of food waste
Currently, less than 2 percent of the valuable nutrients in food products and waste are recycled, and most of this ends up in landfills where they are left to rot and produce greenhouse gases, SMEs like the Bureau des Initatives de Developpement Communautaire (BIDEC) converts food waste into compost manure, while also producing organic insecticides and pesticides. By converting organic waste into compost, they recycle nutrients back into the soil, increasing sustainable agricultural production, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Another SME that converts food waste into usable products is Nyungu Africa. It takes corn husks and pineapple crowns and turns them into biodegradable sanitary towels. There are many emerging SMEs on the continent. Through the circular food systems project in Rwanda, we found that these SMEs are constantly looking for ways to improve their products and access cheap and flexible funding to grow their businesses. In addition, they need a supportive policy environment to thrive. By combining three factors — technical support, finance and policy — it is possible to increase the number and capacity of businesses that transform different parts of food waste into usable products.
Circular food systems provide the opportunity for businesses to build strong and sustainable supply chains and create more sustainable jobs while avoiding negative social and environmental externalities. A circular food system requires a more efficient use of resources such as land, energy and water while also increasing productivity without having a negative impact on the environment. It will also reduce post-harvest losses through better storage, transport, processing and packaging, reducing consumer waste and improving food waste management. A sustainable circular food business must take into account different forms of equity, especially in poor countries, where small farmers invest their knowledge and labor to produce a healthy and safe environment product will get a premium price for their investments. However, it is important to note that no business can claim to be 100 percent circular. The goal of any sustainability-minded business is to travel along the circularity spectrum to achieve the most sustainable model.
