The Disease Called Food Waste

Food-waste-

Think. Eat. Save. Reduce your foodprint. That’s the theme of World Environment Day 2013. The new food-inspired global campaign focuses on the fact that over one billion tons of food are lost or wasted each year, according to UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

The campaign, supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and others, aims to reduce food loss along the entire chain of food production and consumption and specifically targets food wasted by consumers, retailers and the hospitality industry.

“In a world of seven billion people, set to grow to nine billion by 2050, wasting food makes no sense – economically, environmentally and ethically,” said Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth  Executive Director Godwin Ojo.

Food-waste-The Advocacy Group, believe we cannot win the battle against climate and Environmental change unless we step up action and setting a strong example by Reducing our Foodprint. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted or lost. This volume of waste is more than the total net production of Sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, 1.2 billion go to bed hungry and another xyz  die daily from hunger.

Food loss occurs mostly at the production and post-harvest stages while food waste typically takes place at the retailer and consumer end of the food supply chain. In broad terms, food losses and waste are influenced by production and processing choices, patterns and technologies, internal infrastructure and capacity, marketing chains and channels for distribution, consumer purchasing and food use practices.

“It is noted too that the so-called global food deficit is artificial and the creation of man because of agribusiness. In connection with this year’s theme, UNEP says each year an estimated one third of all food produced ends up spoiling in the bins of consumers, retailers, farmers and transporters. Together, these spoilt food total 1.3 billion tones and worth an estimated $1 trillion every year. This amount of food can feed several millions of people who presently go to bed hungry everyday.”

In low-income countries the problem of food losses and waste emanates from wide-ranging managerial and technical limitations in harvesting techniques, inadequate storage facilities, transportation, pests, processing and marketing systems. The actors in these sectors who grow food for export are also often at the mercy of over-stringent expectations of buyers who place a premium on cosmetic perfection.

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If markets are not accessible or market prices are too low, producers may let good products go to waste.

According to Ojo, Food loss and waste is something we can all address. With relative ease and a few simple changes to our habits, we can significantly shift this paradigm. That is why this year’s campaign aims to raise global awareness and showcase solutions relevant to developed and developing countries alike.

In order to prevent further waste, governments, development agencies and organisations must work together to help change people’s mind-sets on waste and discourage wasteful practices by farmers, traders, supermarkets and consumers.

ERA/FoEI also suggested that the government should support small-holder farmers who represent about 70% of the population since they have the capacity to feed our growing population and be gainfully employed.

“We therefore condemn the spate of land grabbing by some state governments in collusion with corporations which meant the forceful appropriation of farmlands belonging to small-holder farmers and transferring same to large scale farmers in the name of foreign investment. These barely disguised land-grabbing schemes should cease and lands acquired from small-holder farmers in this process should be returned to them.”

By reducing food waste, we can save money and resources, minimize environmental impacts and, most importantly, move towards a world where everyone has enough to eat.

—Daniels Ekugo

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