As much as half of all the food produced in the world is wasted, according to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
It says that every year countries produce four billion tonnes of food, of which 1.2 to two billion tonnes never gets eaten.
The institute's head of energy and environment, Dr Tim Fox, told Today presenter Sarah Montague that in the developing world "the losses are in the early part of the food supply chain, so between the field and the market place".
"In sub-Saharan Africa and India, something like between 35% and 50% of fruit and vegetable crop is lost," he explained.
"In the mature developed economies, the waste is really down to poor marketing practices."