Women Turning the Table on Food Loss and Waste in Kenya

More than a quarter of Kenyans were undernourished in 2021, and food insecurity continues to rise. At the same time, food loss and waste in sub-Saharan Africa exceeds 30% of production—more than double the global average. This means that countries like Kenya are losing and wasting more food than they receive each year through global aid.

But change is on the horizon. Women leaders from across Kenya, with support from IISD, are making strides toward tackling the issue—from influencing the development of a new post-harvest management strategy to spearheading food redistribution efforts among retailers. Their efforts highlight the power of partnerships in creating viable solutions. Here’s their story. 

How a Group of Women Leaders United to Find Solutions

Women are leading the way on tackling food loss and waste in Kenya. IISD experts Steffany Bermudez, Livia Bizikova, Cristina Larrea, and Erika Luna have been working closely with local food loss and waste champions to make change happen.

In 2019, commodity sectors expert Jane Ngige joined IISD in Kenya for a workshop on boosting sustainability in the Kenyan tea sector. As Chairperson of the Warehouse Receipt System Council, a key body in Kenyan agriculture trade, Jane played a key role in helping IISD build relationships with influential figures in Kenya’s food and agriculture sectors. This meeting marked the beginning of IISD’s growing relationship with key actors in the region.

Then, it was at a 2022 workshop in Rwanda on the role of voluntary sustainability standards in supporting East African farmers, that IISD first met Wambui Mbarire. Wambui is the Chief Executive Officer of the Retail Trade Association of Kenya (RETRAK), a body that represents the voice of local retailers. She identified tackling food loss and waste as a key priority for Kenya and set the scene for an ambitious new focus for the team’s growing partnerships.

IISD and RETRAK organized a workshop focused on finding solutions in 2023. This event brought together various actors involved in the day-to-day work of tackling food loss and waste, including Brendah Nakhumicha, Team Lead at the Division of Food Safety at Kenya’s Ministry of Health, and Joy Muya, a legal advisor for Food Banking Kenya, a food-recovery organization that recovers and redistributes food from all levels of the supply chain. To further support efforts in addressing food loss and waste, FAO Kenya food systems specialist Winnie Yegon, who has supported coordination of the development of the government strategy for tackling postharvest food loss and food waste, was able to receive feedback on the strategy that will be helpful especially in the implementation stages.

These three meetings brought the right people together, at the right time. By working with local partners, IISD ensured its work remained relevant to the issue at hand, responding to the emerging needs of policy-makers and ensuring the strategic actors necessary to make change were talking to each other and taking notice of IISD’s recommendations.

“Our work with IISD has been phenomenal. We have been able to work with partners on the ground and really look at how to harness the power of partnerships around food loss and food waste,” said Jane Ngige. “IISD has been great in terms of bringing people together—from farmers and agronomists to government regulators . . . to look at the bigger picture of the policy situation, see how effective these policies have been and what needs to be reviewed. Some policies were created decades ago, and the situation has changed. We must look and see whether they're still relevant today.”

A New Post-Harvest Management Strategy

Food loss refers to food lost during production, post-harvest, and processing stages, while food waste refers to food discarded at the retail and consumer levels. Most food loss tends to happen due to post-harvest issues, whether that is poor handling of products, supply chain issues, or improper storage, processing, and packaging.

After 2 years of working on its new Post-Harvest Management Strategy for Food Loss and Waste Reduction, the Kenya Government is expected to release it to the public in October. The strategy seeks to build partnerships across supply chains to address recurring issues that have led to food loss and waste, as well as maximize the value of investment by ensuring resources are used effectively and sustainably

“The strategy represents a key milestone in our efforts to meet the food and nutritional needs of our people, while also improving the sustainability and efficiency of our food systems”

Brendah Nakhumicha

The strategy was drafted by a multi sectoral national task team with support from the FAO. “It has been a truly collaborative effort,” said Winnie Yegon. “We are delighted that several ministries of the Kenyan government have now signalled their support for the strategy.”

IISD has engaged with key actors throughout the different stages of the strategy’s development. Some of our recommendations to draft versions of the strategy have been included in the final version, with our contributions recognized by the government as “actionable activities.” IISD experts also continue contributing to its development by suggesting further engagement in implementation activities in 2025 and beyond.

Guidelines for Retailers on How to Redistribute Food Effectively

Food is often wasted as a result of strict regulations, narrow rules around fresh produce in retail and hospitality, and a lack of legal frameworks to allow for the donation of food that is still fresh.

IISD’s workshops also highlighted that Kenya’s retailers needed a set of clear guidelines to help them redistribute surplus food more effectively. RETRAK has led the way in putting together such guidelines, in coordination with the Ministry of Health, with support from the FAO and development organizations such as the World Resources Institute, Solidaridad, and IISD. IISD experts assisted in drafting the guidelines during a workshop in June 2024.

“We hope the new guidelines will reduce or minimize the amount of food surplus that becomes waste and create a pathway for supermarkets and eateries to donate their food,” said Wambui Mbarire. “We want to create a situation where food is available, for free or at a discount, for people unable to feed themselves effectively.” Wambui also suggests that the next step should be to pilot the guidelines with retailers and gauge how effective they are at making sure food goes to those who need it—instead of being turned into animal feed or going to the landfill.

However, challenges remain when it comes to effective redistribution. “One of the barriers we've experienced is our infrastructure capacity,” said Joy Muya. “Retailers say, ‘we want to work with you, but we want it to be all or nothing.’ They want us to recover from all their stores countrywide and this is a limitation for us because we just don't have the capacity.

“Even when we've partnered with organizations to see if we can pool our collective resources to recover and redistribute, it's still a challenge because of the amount of waste. With retail outlets scattered across Kenya, it's difficult to meet retailer requirements because, in many cases, they require that we have refrigerated trucks. More resources would help us to scale significantly.”

For the guidelines to realize their potential, there must be more support to ensure retailers can manage their stock, minimize waste, and guarantee food is distributed more effectively. Investing in these initiatives will be critical in enabling retailers to play their part in creating a future without food insecurity.

Sowing the Seeds of Change

Over the last few years, IISD’s collaboration with local food loss and waste champions, the Kenyan government, and other key actors has laid the foundation for meaningful progress in addressing food insecurity. With the new Post-Harvest Management Strategy for Food Loss and Waste Reduction and guidelines to aid retailers with redistribution, steps have been taken to tackle the root causes of food loss and waste and begin to bring down the country’s high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition.

These outcomes demonstrate the power of forming effective partnerships and being responsive to the needs of local partners. But there is still a great deal of work left to do, and it will be incumbent on all parties involved to ensure these initiatives are effectively implemented. IISD will continue to play its role in ensuring their success, and we invite all those who are interested in contributing to tackling food waste and food loss in Kenya to get involved and work together to help create lasting meaningful change.