So…my thesis has been submitted. This has led me to the decision to upload a post reflecting on the process.
It was a difficult yet thoroughly rewarding journey! I believe that I have conducted a unique piece of research. While it may not grace the heady pages of Science or Nature I do believe that such a study has never been undertaken before! I am also very hopeful that that data that I have generated will be of some use to Emilie and the team at Save Food here at FAO!
While the study was restricted to analysing the INDCs I believe that they data and results do provide some indication on the importance of food loss and waste in the overall climate change strategies of countries in Sub Saharan Africa. My data indicate that while some countries in the region (for more details see the research/provisional results section of this website) include food loss reduction measures in their INDCs overall most do not. This is somewhat surprising when one considers that most food loss occurs at the production and post-harvest stages of the supply chain. This may indicate a couple of things. Firstly, perhaps the consultative phase of drafting the documents was not inclusive enough. Further research could ascertain the extent to which governmental departments dealing with food security were involved in the process. Also further research could ascertain the extent that food loss reduction measures have been included in other climate change documents like NAMAs, NAPs, National Communications to the UNFCCC etc. Such research has the potential to confirm or refute the results produced in this study.
I owe a lot to a lot of people who made my research possible. Special thanks to Prof. Spillane for his constructive feedback and his help in arranging my internship here at FAO. Thanks also to Dr McKeown and Kevin Kilcline for their valuable inputs. I must also thank Emilie Wieben for her comments, support and encouragement. Also the Save Food team who have made me feel welcome from day 1. Last but not least I would like to thank Margaret Vidar from the legal division of FAO for her invaluable support and advice on legal definitions of FLW. Thanks to you all.