Technology for packaging food could help reduce the 33 percent of food lost from field to table, especially in areas of the world where there are food deficits, according to Germany-based Bosch Packaging Technology division, CNBCAfrica reports.

In less developed countries, food losses result from inadequate harvesting conditions, lack of infrastructure and inappropriate storage, Bosch says.

But food is also wasted because supermarkets in affluent countries place very high demands on how food looks.

European Union supermarkets have high specifications on appearance, M&GAfrica reported. This is the case for fruit and vegetables grown in Kenya and exported to Europe, Middle East, South Africa and Southeast Asia, where about 35 percent-to-40 percent of food waste occurs, M&GAfrica reports.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the most undernourishment, affecting about one in four people.

Bosch has been partnering with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation through the Save Food initiative. The initiative seeks to combat global food losses and waste, and ensure that less food is lost en route to customers and by customers, CNBCAfrica reports.

Even when countries use reliable modern storage technology, such as the case with the grain sector in Nigeria and Ghana, workers may lack proper training. This has translated into significant post-harvest losses of up to 50 percent, attributed to the lack of knowledge about sound grain storage management, M&GAfrica reports.

The Rockefeller Foundation’s Waste and Spoilage initiative is exploring cheap technologies such as hermetic — airtight — bags that reduce on-farm storage loss by more than 90 percent, or mobile process units that can be moved from farm to farm to share costs.