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Project

Our vision

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), about 5 billion tons of food is produced annually in the world, but one-third of it is discarded, making food loss and waste a global social issue that not only wastes resources but also has a negative impact on the environment. As a solution to this problem, Osaka university will solve the important issues of SDG 12.3, which is the basis for the formulation of the vision, through “Food DX” by focusing on the social implementation of “new technology related to food” and research teams working on “social problems related to food,” aiming to create a society where food loss is reduced and ethical consumption is realized.

Here is our mission against the current situation and problems of food loss and waste.

There are five major causes of food loss and waste

Andre Andonian, 2020. Future of Food and Agriculture deciphered by McKinsey Japan Managing Partner. Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha

It is believed that food loss and waste is caused by five major factors: production loss (9%), storage loss (8%), processing loss (4%), distribution loss (4%), and consumption loss (8%).
We pursued and analyzed the causes of each loss, discussed countermeasure guidelines, and came up with the following research approach.

Main reasons of production loss

Most of the production losses occur when food is discarded in the production area because the cost of harvesting and shipping cannot be recovered due to the decline in market prices of the produce. In addition, food is insufficiently cropped or substandard crops are discarded.

Our Approach

We will develop technology to guarantee storage until the market price meets the cost.

Metabolomics profiling

Orphan Crop

We will use genome editing technology to develop plant resources that are not commonly eaten into crops.

We will develop a zero-waste meat by using crops that would have been discarded.

Food Printing

Food DX technology that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions

Our cutting-edge technology will be implemented in Indonesia

Why Indonesia ?

  • Indonesia is the largest producer of fruit in Southeast Asia (19 million tons), but much of it is discarded due to spoilage during the “storage, processing, and distribution stages. The total amount of food wasted, including fruit, is 44% or 48 million tons per year, which accounts for 3.7% of the world’s 1.3 billion tons of food loss.
  • We are focusing on Indonesia, which has the world’s second largest amount of food waste per capita and a population of 270 million, to implement these food DX technologies in society.
  • Another advantage of our technology is that we have the backing of the Indonesian government and university research institutions to implement our innovations in society.
PL Fukusaki /Heri Akhmadi, Ambassador of Indonesia

Food evolution

We will make pioneering efforts to realize this vision on a global scale, and create a society in which all stakeholders (agricultural producers, storage distributors, retailers, and consumers) are happy, environmentally friendly, and connected across borders through the “food cycle”.

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