International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste 2021
Did you know that the United Nation’s General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables? Alright, now you know. This declaration is an attempt to raise awareness about the critical role fruits and vegetables play in supporting human nutrition, food security, health and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs). So, the next time you see a piece of fruit or vegetable, remember that this is the year of fruits and vegetables.
Beyond that, the UNGA also, on 19 December, 2019, designated 29 September as the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW). The observance of a day to commemorate food loss and waste is designed to contribute significantly to raising awareness about the importance of the problem of food loss and waste as well as to provide an occasion to promote possible solutions to this problem at all levels. So, the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste will be observed for the second time in 2021.
It is quite an irony, that there is hunger and starvation in a world where there is also food loss and waste. It is also weird that there is food loss and wastage in the same part of the world where there is food insecurity. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) noted that “the world produces enough food waste to feed as many as 2 billion people each year.” About 30% of all food produced globally is never eaten, and the value of this wasted food is worth over $1 trillion. Take a trip from Kogi to Benue States of Nigeria, Bobo-Diuolasso to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Chinkase to Kara, in Togo and you would see a vast amount of food products harvested going to waste. Incidentally, this is not just a problem in sub-Saharan Africa; it’s a global issue.
For some clarity, food loss is anything lost by producers or distribution and food waste is anything lost at the consumer level. However, this definition is primarily convenient because the line of demarcation between the two seems blurred, especially in rural sub-Saharan Africa. The bottom line is that food is lost or wasted throughout the supply chain, from production, harvesting, post-harvest handling, processing, packaging, distribution, retail to consumption.
Growing up, one way to get my grandmother angry is not to finish your food or waste food, and I am sure many people can relate to that. It is therefore critical, at the consumption level, to rethink how we handle food, to ensure that we preserve what we have and not waste it, knowing that in another part of the world, someone is dying of hunger.
Furthermore, there is a need for governments at all levels and the private sector to invest more at the production level by improving food handling and storage. It’s not rocket science, the need to preserve food is as old as man, the will to do this may be lacking, but the technology is available. I recently read about Cold Hubs in rural Nigeria, a mobile solar-powered storage facility, where farmers can pay to have their products stored, thereby massively reducing their food losses. Another is the hermetic technologies, which stabilizes oxygen levels and offer tight seals to limit insects’ reproduction and life cycle and those of other pests or pathogens that destroy stored food, especially grains. There is an array of technologies out there that provide solutions at this level.
Investments should also be made on roads and transportation facilities, this has been known to induce behaviour changes along agricultural supply chains. This reduces post-harvest food loss directly and indirectly via complementary private investments.
As we observe the 2021 International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, it is essential to note that food loss and waste is unacceptable! Reducing food loss and waste is a sustainable means of achieving food security and improving health. Investing in innovations, technologies and infrastructure that preserves food is the way to go for governments and the private sector. More importantly, there is the need to redistribute resources with the aim of improving access to food supply for the food insecure, prevent food waste and ensure economic, environmental and social benefits.
