Food rescue has emerged as a promising approach to address the interrelated issues of food insecurity and food waste. According to the food waste hierarchy, the next best strategy after food waste prevention is to donate surplus food for human consumption. However, while some countries have well-established networks of charities and government support to promote surplus food donation and food rescue in most developing countries is often less structured and smaller in scale. To gain insights into the current landscape of food rescue, this study thoroughly examined existing food rescue operations and systems, mainly from the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, India, and the Philippines. The study also analysed several countries' food rescue policy environments to understand how an enabling environment can be created. A particular focus was set on food safety being a critical consideration when rescuing and donating surplus food. Simplified food safety guidelines, staff training, and adequate storage and transportation facilities are crucial to food safety. Effective partnerships between food rescue organizations, food businesses, government agencies, and other stakeholders are also critical to the success of food rescue efforts. The study found a need to develop such partnerships in developing countries, where they may be less established than in the Global North. To facilitate the development of an enabling environment for food rescue in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the study developed a set of templates, including relevant food safety guidelines, partnership contracts, and policy templates. These resources can serve as valuable tools for stakeholders in LMICs to promote and enhance food rescue efforts that can help address food insecurity and reduce food waste.

In April 2021, the Sri Lankan Government banned imports of agrochemicals, including chemical fertilizers, to make Sri Lanka the first fully organic and chemical fertilizer-free country globally. The ban was justified by human and environmental health concerns, such as many cases of kidney failure in the central parts of Sri Lanka. While previous policies had envisioned a stepwise transition, the sudden ban jolted the agriculture sector. However, it was aligned with the emerging national economic crisis with drastically declining foreign exchange reserves that restricted the import of commodities, including fertilizer for distribution at subsidized prices. The ban was also opportune because fertilizer prices peaked on international markets in 2022. Without any transitional time, the thrust for organic fertilizers failed to satisfy demand or obtain the required crop nutrients resulting in severe agricultural losses. After the first data on decreasing yields were revealed, the government lifted the chemical fertilizer ban on December 1, 2021, but it was too late as the cropping season had arrived. Without financial reserves to import fertilizer, the donor community was urged to assist. This paper addresses: (1) justification of the ban, (2) the feasibility of transitioning to organic fertilizers based on the available biomass to replace chemical fertilizers; and (3) the related cost implications. The scenarios focus on irrigated paddy rice and the plantation sector that underpin the national economy. Undervalued nutrient sources are also considered as well as the constraints to and implications of such a transition beyond Sri Lanka’s frontiers.