FCAN experts are nominated by OECD countries. They participate in annual FCAN meetings and ad hoc virtual events that are facilitated by the OECD Secretariat, and share insights, data, and best practices on topical food systems issues related to ongoing OECD projects. In this way, FCAN informs the work of the OECD, while also enabling peer learning and dialogue among OECD member countries.
Food-Chain Analysis Network
The Food-Chain Analysis Network (FCAN) is an OECD expert group specialised in food systems analysis. In recent years, the FCAN has contributed and contributes to OECD work on issues related to environmental sustainability (food loss and waste, measurement and communication of the environmental impacts of food products) and food security and nutrition (simplified nutrition labelling policies, food insecurity in OECD countries).
Who we are
In 2025 and 2026, the FCAN focuses on food loss and waste (FLW) measurement and policy evaluation. Reducing FLW plays a critical role in addressing the triple challenge of feeding a growing world population, ensuring the livelihood of households along the agro-food supply chain, and delivering on climate and sustainability commitments. The recently published OECD report Beyond Food Loss and Waste Reduction Targets shed light on the FLW policy environment to support cross-country dialogue and accelerate the implementation of more effective evidence-based and context-specific FLW policies. It concluded that countries should focus on (1) strengthening their policy ambition and promoting stakeholder engagement, (2) monitoring their progress in reducing FLW and evaluating their policy instruments, and (3) enhancing and fostering international cooperation.
To support OECD member countries in achieving these objectives, the OECD is developing a project, Better Data and Evaluation Practices to Strengthen Food Loss and Waste Policies, for 2025-2026. The project focuses on improving the quality and the international comparability of FLW data and developing international guidance on how to conduct evaluations of FLW reduction strategies.
The FCAN is contributing to the ongoing OECD FLW project, with two meetings scheduled in November 2025 and February 2026. The FCAN serves as a platform for FLW practitioners, experts, and stakeholders to exchange information, share practices, and explore common approaches to enhance FLW data comparability. These insights and discussions will also inform the future development of FLW indicators along the value chain, as well as strengthen the evaluation of FLW policy instruments.
On 13-14 November 2025, the FCAN meeting ‘The Challenge of Evaluating Food Loss and Waste Reduction Strategies” took place. FCAN experts met to exchange on the purpose of conducting evaluations to assess the outcomes of FLW reduction strategies and gather inputs from experts on methodological aspects associated with such evaluations.
The FCAN will meet again on 3-4 February 2026 with a focus on indicator needs for the evaluation of FLW reduction initiatives.
In 2023 and 2024, the FCAN studied initiatives to measure and communicate environmental impacts of food products. The first hybrid meeting was organised in Paris on 22-23 June 2023. Participants shared experiences on initiatives to measure and/or communicate environmental impacts and discussed governance issues. A series of virtual workshops then looked in more detail at farm-level calculation tools, simplified environmental labelling schemes, carbon footprint standards, consumer behaviour, secondary databases, and interoperability and data sharing issues. These discussions and exchanges were key to OECD work on measuring carbon footprints in food systems and resulted in a draft report suggesting 8 building blocks as essential elements to achieve reliable and widespread product carbon footprint information in agri-food supply chains.
On 10-11 October 2024, the FCAN met again in hybrid format in Paris. Discussions were structured around the eight building blocks identified in the draft report. Participants were asked how essential each building block is, and how likely to fail (in the absence of deliberate effort), and discussed this question through a mix of individual work, breakout sessions, interviews with experts, and plenary discussions. The discussions confirmed the relevance of the eight building blocks, suggested additional key themes (e.g. the role of government), and provided guidance for future OECD work.
FCAN discussions during 2023-24 resulted in the publication of the report “Measuring Carbon Footprints of Agri-Food Products” and the policy brief “Enabling trust in food labels form improved environmental outcomes: Insights from OECD analysis”.
All documents, agendas, and presentations are available for download:
- The challenge of evaluating food loss and waste reduction strategies, 2025
- Measuring carbon footprints of food products, 2024.
- Measuring and communicating environmental impacts of food products: Preliminary insights from national experiences, June 2023.
- Making simplified nutritional food labelling policies: Lessons from national experiences, January 2022.
- “How-to” of simplified food labelling policy making, June 2021.
- New policy approaches for food insecure households, September 2020.
Past activities
All documents, agendas, and presentations are available for download:
- Policy options for the food system, 2019 | Country responses to the 2018 food data systems questionnaire.
- Improving the Food Information Base to Analyse Health-Related Food Policies, October 2018.
- Information needs for policies to encourage healthier food choices, May 2017.
- Reducing food loss and waste in the retail and processing sectors, June 2016.
- The food chain and consumers, October 2015 | Country responses to the 2014 food price formation questionnaire.
- Public-private partnerships for agricultural innovation, October 2014.
- Competition along the food chain, October 2013.
- Food waste along the supply chain, June 2013.
- Mobilising the food chain for health, October 2012.
- Building a sustainable food chain, September 2011.
- Inaugural network meeting, December 2010.
Virtual workshops:
- 8 November 2023 - Farm-level calculation tools.
- 21 November 2023 - Lessons from simplified nutrition labelling schemes for simplified environmental labelling schemes.
- 5 March 2024 - Carbon footprint standards.
- 21 March 2024 - Environmental sustainability information and consumers food choices.
- 23 April 2024 - Life Cycle Assessment databases for food.
- 28 May 2024 - Interoperability.
