This OECD report (2025) provides a comprehensive global stocktake of national food loss and waste (FLW) policies based on responses from 42 countries and the European Commission. It identifies persistent gaps between global ambition—such as SDG 12.3—and national implementation, highlighting inconsistencies in definitions, metrics, target-setting, and policy coordination.
Across five policy dimensions—Knowledge, Ambition, National Commitments, Implementation, and Effectiveness—the report finds that while countries have improved FLW measurement and widely adopted national targets and strategies, challenges remain. These include fragmented responsibilities, limited assessment of on-farm losses, a reliance on soft measures, minimal mandatory targets, and weak evaluation systems.
Rich visual evidence in the report—including Figure 2.1 on data-collection entities, Figure 2.5 on reduction-target coverage, and Figure 2.9 on governance structures—illustrates the variation in national approaches.
The report concludes that countries must strengthen harmonised measurement, set clearer baselines and quantitative targets, improve cross-government coordination, avoid policy layering, invest in ex-ante and ex-post evaluations, and expand participation in international initiatives.
Resource type:
Reports and discussion papers