WRI Africa Research Consultancy
Terms of Reference
Food loss and waste measurement in the potato value chain in Kenya
Institution overview
The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research non-profit organization established in 1982. The organization has been working in Africa for more than 30 years, supporting local partners and African governments to advance forest protection, landscape restoration and sustainable cities. Our vision for Africa is an inclusive transformation so that Africaโs people and landscapes can flourish. WRI Africa generates actionable knowledge across three strategic pillars: Vital Landscapes, Thriving and Resilient Cities, and Institutional and Economic Transformation. The goal of the Vital Landscapes pillar is to revitalize and protect landscapes for people and the planet in four programmatic areas: Food, Restoration, Water and Forests. Because Africaโs population will continue to grow rapidly in the next decades, and climate change will remain an obstacle for development, the vital landscapes pillar aims to build the resilience of our natural ecosystems so that they can continue to provide vital ecosystems services - food, water, carbon sequestration and climate regulation sustainably. The pillar aims to catalyse comprehensive transformation of African food systems, so that the way we produce, transport, store, process, trade and consume food is done in such a manner that protects the environment and guarantees human health and well-being.
Assignment background
The current assignment is part of WRI-Africaโs Vital Landscapes Pillar, and more specifically, the food loss/waste (FLW) portfolio domiciled in the food program. One of portfolioโs goal is to contribute to impactful FLW prevention and reduction through collaborations that scale-up the Target- Measure-Act (TMA) approach. This approach encourages entities to integrate measurement of FLW in their operations. Measuring helps to better understand how much, where, and why food is being lost or wasted, and provides an evidence-based foundation for the Actions to be prioritized. For governments the actions might include aligning policies or developing action plans while for businesses these might include changing practices, adopting improved technologies etc. Measuring further enables tracking of progress towards the set target when specific actions are being implemented.
A major obstacle in the efforts to mitigate FLW is the lack of reliable and consistent data on the magnitude of FLW, the hotspots (geographical, product, value chain stages) of food loss/waste, and the key drivers. A review of the literature shows there exist variations in scope/boundaries of measurementโ even in the same value chains, which raises data discrepancies as well as reporting and accounting issues[1]. These situations make it impossible to measure progress against any targets because there is no standardised way of defining and measuring the problem. Additionally, without accurate data, the formulation of robust policies with clear actionable recommendations for to the public and private sector actors becomes untenable.
Kenya has committed to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) target 12.3 of reducing food loss and halving food waste by 2030. This commitment requires national frameworks to be supported with credible/standardized approaches for measuring FLW. Conceptually, the methodological considerations of FLW measurement must consider the fact that food commodities are highly varied in their very nature. Variations also exist in the causes and drivers of FLW depending on geographical contexts and other circumstances. For instance, FLW can entail quantity and quality dimensions. A difficulty in measuring the quality dimension is that it is not always discernible (even when it could have health and food safety implications). However, some quality dimensions can be associated with sensory