The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO’s goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. FAO seeks to support the 2030 Agenda through the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable, agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.
FAO supports governments and partners to design the right policies and programmes to end hunger, promote food security and promote sustainable agriculture for millions of people around the world. With 195 members – 194 countries and the European Union, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.
How does FAO contribute to a more sustainable fashion industry?
FAO’s work on sustainable fashion
The fashion industry is undergoing a remarkable shift towards sustainability, driven by a growing awareness of environmental issues. At the heart of this transformation lies an exciting concept: bioeconomy. Bioeconomy is an innovative approach that leverages the power of nature to create eco-friendly fabrics and materials. In recent years, FAO has become more active in utilising the bioeconomy to explore the uses of agriculture for textiles, including sustainable biobased textiles, natural dyes and food waste to fashion, through implementing a sustainable bioeconomy approach and transforming agricultural waste and byproducts into sustainable, biobased textiles. FAO thus contributes to a more sustainable fashion industry by presenting environmentally friendly, biobased, alternatives to textiles and leather.
Food Waste to Fashion at the World Food Forum
FAO’s Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment (OCB) and Bites of Transfoodmation (BoT) highlighted the potential for turning food waste and byproducts into wearable, fashionable items during an event at the 2023 World Food Forum in FAO headquarters in Rome. The event showcased how food waste can be transformed into fashionable and eco-conscious clothing, creating a win-win for both fashion enthusiasts and the planet. Participating brands like Ananas Anam, Bananatex, Barbara della Rovere, Orange Fiber, Spora Studio and Vegea are not just fashion related labels; they are changemakers and great examples of how it is possible to shift the fashion industry. They’re weaving the future fabric of fashion – literally – by transforming what we usually discard as waste into wearable materials. From orange fibres to mushroom leather, the variety of sustainable materials and wearable pieces showcased changed everyone’s perception of what’s possible in fashion.
By combining the innovative power of bioeconomy with circular fashion principles, we’re not only reducing the environmental impact of the fashion industry but also fostering economic growth and creativity. This dual approach is driving a pattern shift towards a more sustainable and responsible future in fashion. Bioeconomy in fashion embraces nature’s gift by using organic and bio-based materials like organic cotton, fruits and vegetables. By using parts of the plant that would otherwise be discarded, this also has an environmental benefit, while helping to preserve biodiversity and reduce the use of chemicals.
Banana Waste to Textile in Pakistan's Bioeconomy
FAO heads a Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project in Pakistan that will turn waste from the banana value chain into sustainable bio-based textiles. The “Bananas in Pakistan’s Bioeconomy: Transforming Waste into Textile” project is part of the GEF Eliminating Hazardous Chemicals from Supply Chains integrated programme, which focuses specifically on the fashion and construction sectors. The programme aims to stimulate innovations in new materials, technologies, and practices; create markets and demand for such innovations; and embed the principle of “green by design”. It is estimated that about a two-thirds of biomass produced during banana production is wasted – this new project in Pakistan aims to turn waste into value-added products, bolstering food security and rural livelihoods while developing alternative, bio-based textiles that require fewer chemicals and are much kinder to the environment. Turning non-edible waste from the banana value chain into sustainably produced fabrics is a win-win situation. It extracts more value from the inputs used to produce the banana plants and from banana residues, while at the same time offering extra income opportunities and teaching new skills to rural populations, in particular women.
Blue Fashion
Blue Fashion, an emerging sector of the Blue Economy, supports the use of overlooked resources, such as seaweed and fish skin – which would otherwise be discarded as waste or sold at a very low price – to create sustainable fashion alternatives thus improving livelihoods in small-scale fishing communities and creating local jobs. FAO is promoting Blue Fashion to support livelihoods in Kenya and Cabo Verde. In Kenya, workers at Victorian Foods Fish Factory transformed the fish skin of Nile Perch, which is a byproduct from fish processing. These often large fish skins from fish which are caught from Lake Turkana, are transformed into sustainable leather which is then used to make fashionable clothes, bags and other items. In Cabo Verde, artisans are currently using polluting, expensive bovine leather for their products, which could potentially be replaced by more sustainable fish leather. This is the basis of the ELEVATE project: Fish Waste to Fashion, which will convert discarded fish skins into sustainable leather adopting a bioeconomy approach, considering sustainability across the value chain from sourcing to final product. The project adds a social dimension by emphasising women’s participation in fish skin handling and fish leather production.
