As a country that was agreeing on the global development agenda, Indonesia has committed to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and greenhousegas (GHG) emission reduction targets following the Paris Agreement in 2030. This commitment is demonstrated by mainstreaming the SDGs’ goals, targets, and indicators
in the National Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2020 – 2024 and prioritize Low Carbon Development programs in National Priority (PN) 6: Build the Environment, Improving Disaster Resilience, and Climate Change. In addition, under the Low Carbon Development program, the Government of Indonesia is also developing the Circular Economy policy as an approach to encourage green and sustainable economic growth.

These steps are the systemic and integrated efforts by the Government of Indonesia in dealing with various development problems, one of which is food loss and waste. With a more than 200 million population, Indonesia can generate a large amount of food loss and waste (FLW) that continues to grow every year. Food loss that occurs in the food preparation supply chain and food waste generated in the process of distribution, service, and food consumption is causing economic and social impact and contributes to the increased greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, a responsible, integrated, and holistic reduction and handling of FLW can be part of efforts to accelerate the implementation of low carbon development and green economic development to address the challenges of food security and nutrition deficit in Indonesia.

As an initial step in the transformation of FLW management in Indonesia, the Government of Indonesia, supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, United Kingdom, conducted a Study of Food Loss and Waste in Indonesia. This study has identified baseline data on FLW for the last 20 years and its environment, economy, and social impact and provided recommendations of sustainable FLW management strategies in Indonesia.

By presenting several evidence-based results, we hope that this study can serve as a reference and guide for stakeholders and policymakers and provide an overview of the Government of Indonesia’s efforts in managing FLW in the context of implementing a Circular Economy and Low Carbon Development.