More than 800 million people globally face hunger. Simultaneously, the world wastes or loses about one-third of its entire food supply. Latin America accounts for 6% of these losses, according to the United Nations Food & Agricultural Organization (FAO); the Latin America region loses and/or wastes roughly 15% of its total food supply each year.

However, the region is also home to a wealth of potential solutions that when implemented can reduce food waste along the supply chain. We divide these solutions into four main verticals: upcycling; preventing waste; increasing shelf life; and avoiding waste.

Around Latin America and the Caribbean, startups are using technology to develop food waste solutions that fall into one or more of these categories.

The numbers: food loss and waste in Latin America

Latin America is home to more than 650 million people and is rich in both natural resources and food. But as mentioned above, the region wastes about 15% of its food annually, and the Pan American Health Organization estimates that hunger will impact 67 million people in the region by 2030.

The main causes of food waste in Latin America are overproduction, inadequate storage and transportation systems, lack of education and awareness, and inefficient distribution networks. According to FAO sources, the total losses and waste in the region occur at every stage of the food chain: 27% in production; 22% during handling and storage; 6% at the processing level; 17% in marketing and distribution; and 28% at the consumer level.

Worldwide, approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food is lost or wasted each year, including about 45% of all fruit and vegetables, 35% of fish and seafood, 30% of cereals, 20% of dairy products, and 20% of meat. All of this translates to about $940 billion of economic losses annually.

The losses are even greater when we consider the amount of scarce resources such as land, water, and energy used to produce food. Agriculture accounts for over a third of global land area and over 70% of freshwater withdrawals. Food waste is also responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and soil degradation, and also exacerbates food insecurity and poverty in many parts of the world, including Latam.