4th FLW Workshop, October 2020, hybrid, Saudi Arabia
The "Regional Food Loss & Waste Workshop" as fourth event of the series took place as hybrid event hosted in Riyadh on October 15th, 2020. The organisation team included the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia as the G20 presidency holder of 2020 as well as Thünen Institute.
The 65 participants from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain and Germany as well as from the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) represented the scientific community, companies, interest groups as well as authorities.
The aim of the workshop was to provide impetus for the establishment of regional networks and cooperation along the value chain to facilitate further monitoring of food loss and waste and im-plementation of prevention measures in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Particular emphasis was placed on the link between food security and food waste, business models for prevention, the contribution of households to the topic and the role of an unbroken cold chain as well as reliable infrastructure. Participants also reported on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the food supply chain in their countries and the measures taken to secure the supply and avoid unused surpluses. Special emphasis was placed on the cultural characteristics of the region, such as the joint celebration of large festivals, which lead to above-average amounts of surplus food. In addition to technical solutions to the special challenges posed by the region´s climate, the conference therefore called for awareness-raising measures for all stakeholders.
The host country Saudi Arabia is the only one in the Gulf region that has already published a baseline for the amount of food waste generation in 2019. Other countries in the region now want to follow this example and benefit from Saudi expertise.
Please find the agenda as well as the presentations by session embedded in the following list. Some impressions of the hybrid event can be found in the photo gallery below.
| Thursday, October 15th 2020 | |
|---|---|
| 12:30 - 12:45 | |
Welcoming Address Chairperson of the G20-MACS 2020 Prof. Suliman Ali Al-Khateeb (Director General Plant Resources, Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) Introduction Mr. Stefan Lange (Research director, Thünen Institute, Germany) UNEP Overview of Food Loss & Waste Initiative Mr. Sami Dimassi (Director and Regional Representative, West Asia Office, United Nations Environment Programme) | |
| 12:45 - 13:30 | Session 1. Food Losses & Waste Strategy to enhance Food Security |
Moderator: Miss Arwa Numan (Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) Food Waste and Loss: an integral part of achieving sustainable Food Security Mr. Essa AbdulRahman AlHashemi (Head of Food and Water Security, United Arab Emirates) Food Loss and Waste in the wheat value chain of Egypt, Jordan and Morocco Dr. Yigezu Atnafe Yigezu (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Egypt) Food Security Strategy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Eng. Abdullah AlRabiah (Saudi Grains Organisation (SAGO), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) Discussion (15 min) | |
| 13:30 - 14:20 | Session 2. Strategies for fighting food waste in business sector |
Moderator: Dr. Felicitas Schneider (coordinator FLW Collaboration Initiative launched at MACS-G20, Thünen Institute, Germany) Challenges for Food Loss and Waste infrastructure and logistics in Gulf Cooperation Council countries Mr. Najeeb Alhumaid (Farrelly & Mitchell Business Consultants Ltd.) Measuring Food Waste at hotels and restaurants and economic benefit from prevention: The Food Waste Opportunity Mr. Ignacio Ramirez (Winnow Solutions, United Arab Emirates) Food Bank cooperation as a strategy to fight Food Waste Mr. Amer AlDakhil (Secretary-General Specialized Council for the Preservation of Grace, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) Discussion (20 min) | |
| 14:20 - 14:40 | Coffee break |
| 14:40 - 15:30 | Session 3. Food Waste at Household level |
Moderator: Miss Arwa Numan (MEWA, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) Food Waste Index Mrs. Clementine O´Connor (Programme Management Officer, UNEP) Strategies for Food Waste Reduction at Household level Mr. Tarik Ismail (Chief Executive Officer, Savola World) Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Food Loss and Waste Baseline Dr. Mohammed S. Alamri (Saudi Grains Organisation (SAGO), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) Discussion (20 min) | |
| 15:30 - 16:20 | Session 4. Panel Discussion on the role of Cold Chain in Gulf Cooperation Council region to consolidate food supply chain |
Moderator: Mr. Stefan Lange (Thünen Institute, Germany) Cold Chain Strategy to consolidate food chain in GCC countries Mr. Abdullah Hamdan Al-Anazi (LuLu Saudi Hyper Market) Cold Chain Strategy to consolidate food chain in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Prof. Salah Mohammed Aleid (King Faisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) Discussion (30 min) | |
| 16:20 - 16:30 | Closing session |
Concluding Remarks Dr. Felicitas Schneider (Thünen Institute, Germany) Closing Remarks Prof. Suliman Ali Al-Khateeb (MEWA, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) | |
Pictures from 4th FLW Workshop, October 15th, 2020, Riyadh/Saudi Arabia
