A new study published in the November edition of the peer-reviewed journal 'Science of the Total Environment' found that reducing food waste and increasing efficiency within the food production chain could cut food losses by half, thereby potentially feeding an additional billion people. For the first time, global food waste was estimated in terms of kilocalories per capita. A research team, led by Aalto University in Finland, calculated that 614 kilocalories per person are lost due to waste in the food production chain each day. By avoiding these losses, global production would provide 2,609 kilocalories of food daily. If the lowest loss percentage achieved in any region could be replicated at the global level, eight billion people could be fed with the resources currently used. The study also assessed the impact of food losses in relation to the use of resources: Every year, food losses waste 27 cubic metres of clean water, 0.031 hectares of agricultural land and 4.3 kilogrammes of fertiliser per person. “Agriculture uses over 90 per cent of the fresh water consumed by humans and most of the raw materials used in fertilisers. More efficient food production and the reduction of food losses are very important matters for the environment as well as future food security,” said Matti Kummu, lead author of the study and post-doctoral researcher at Aalto University. Researchers from VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands and the University of Bonn in Germany also contributed to this study.