Food losses and wastage as a sustainability indicator of food and farming systems

A world population expected to be 9 billion humans by 2050, its growing share of urban citizens and a shift of lifestyles and diet patterns of the rising middle class in emerging economies place considerable strain on the planet’s resources. According to the FAO, food production will need to grow by 70% to feed world population in 2050 (Bruinsma, 2009). Further trends like global warming, declining freshwater resources, biodiversity or loss of fertile land, interconnected and closely linked to global food security, require an integrated and innovative approach to solution-finding