An Action Plan for South-South Cooperation on Food Loss and Waste Reduction was released at the 2025 International Conference on Reducing Food Loss and Waste, held from July 24 to 26 in Jinan, Shandong Province of China. Co-hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, and the Shandong Provincial Government, the conference focused on the theme: “Reducing Food Loss and Waste: Tech Innovation and Global Action for a Food-Secure World.” This theme highlights the critical role of technological innovation and international cooperation in addressing the global challenge of food loss and waste.
The event gathered over 300 participants from 62 countries and international organizations, including representatives from governments, businesses, and academia, both domestic and international.
In his speech, Peng Qinghua, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, emphasized the importance of fostering the awareness that “less loss means more production, greater efficiency leads to higher income”. He further pointed out that transforming this mindset into tangible actions to support the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly the goals of zero hunger and zero poverty.
Zhang Zhili, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, highlighted MARA's systematic efforts to reduce food loss and waste throughout the entire supply chain—from production and disaster prevention to processing, storage, logistics, and consumer education. By 2024, mechanical harvesting losses for wheat, rice, and corn had been reduced to 0.93%, 1.76%, and 2.06% respectively. Losses due to pests and diseases were controlled below 5%, while processing losses for grains and oils dropped below 1%. MARA is working to establish a comprehensive full-chain loss reduction system across production, storage, distribution, and consumption. These specific data and efforts demonstrate China's practical contributions to reducing food loss and waste.
Building on these efforts and discussions, the Action Plan calls on the global community to strengthen collaboration in cutting food loss and waste, contributing to global food security and sustainable development.
The detailed contents of the Action Plan are presented below.
