Production losses in Russian agriculture: Impact on food security and environmental sustainability

Abstract

This paper provides a quantitative assessment of the impact of losses on specific aspects of food security and environmental sustainability. The lack of full information on the benefits of food loss reduction destimulates developing appropriate effective measures at the public level and in the private sector. The study covers losses generated at the initial stages of the food supply chain, including agricultural production and primary processing. Methodological assessments are based on works of foreign authors, recommendations of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and domestic methodological developments in this area. The results indicate that at the primary stages of the food supply chain, food losses generate a relatively small amount of greenhouse gas emissions, so their reduction in order to lower the carbon footprint is not as effective as at the stage of retail and household consumption. However, preventing losses in agriculture contributes to the creation of additional volumes of food, which can be directed to the consumption of vulnerable groups of population. At the same time, the consequences of loss reduction vary greatly depending on the type of product