According to a recent report of the United Nations titled 'Food Waste Index Report 2024', a billion meals are wasted worldwide every day, and 1.05 billion tons or over a trillion dollars' worth of food are thrown out every year across the globe. This has been happening despite one-third of humanity facing food insecurity and hunger. Led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and co-authored by the UK-based 'Waste and Resources Action Programme' (WRAP), the report revealed that households contributed to 60 percent of all food wastes globally in 2022, compared to about 28 percent by food services and over 12 percent by the retailers. However, the Food Waste Index does not measure 'Food Loss', which accounts for the losses in the production process at farms and factories, as well as losses during transportation.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), an estimated 13 to 14 per cent of food is lost in the supply chain across the globe prior to hitting the shop-shelves. On the other hand, a further 19 per cent is wasted at the retail and consumers' level. As pointed out by the UNEP executive director Inger Anderson in the report, "Food waste is a global tragedy. Millions will go hungry today as food is wasted across the world". It not only affects the global economy negatively, but also adversely impacts climate change, bio-diversity, and pollution. It was also revealed by the UNEP report that average household food waste did not differ much in high, upper-middle, and lower-middle income countries; but the reasons for such wastage differ. For example, insufficient refrigeration can drive waste in low-income countries, but people in high-income countries tend to be less concerned about wastage and resource use. Besides, variables like access to electricity, availability of refrigeration, dietary habits cum behaviour, food distribution infrastructure, and temperature can contribute to the food waste levels indifferent countries of the world.
As mentioned earlier, households account for the largest proportion of wasted food globally at 60 per cent of the total, which amounts to 631 million tons. On the other hand, the food services and retail sector are responsible for 290 and 131 million tons of wastage respectively. On an average, each person wastes 79 kilograms of food annually, which translates into 1.3 meals per day. Just as reasons for wastage vary between countries, the reasons vary among households within the same country. Factors like kitchen infrastructure, cooking skills/knowledge, cultural norms, time availability, disposable income, etc. play a part in it. Interestingly, the UNEP report notes that food waste in high, upper-middle and lower-middle income countries varied by just seven kilograms per capita per year. In contrast, the bigger divide existed in the variations between urban and rural populations. For example, the rural areas in middle-income countries usually waste less, a possible explanation being the recycling of food scraps for pets, animal feed, and home composting in villages.
Sadly, such wastes are very harmful for the earth's environment. The food production process - the rearing of animals, land and water use and the consequent pollution accompanying those - are highly intensive in our planet. Food waste undermines the whole process, and makes the situation worse by rotting in land-fills - thereby creating methane - a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG). In fact, wasted food alone is responsible for an estimated 8 to 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions across the globe, the UNEP report claimed. Therefore, food loss and waste (FLW) result in unnecessary pressure on the environment and natural resources used to produce it - through wastage of land and water resources, creation of pollution, and emission of greenhouse gases for no purpose.
However, the most immediate harm due to wastage of over a billion meals per day is readily visible in the plight of over 780 million poor humans who go hungry everyday across the globe. The world has become so efficient in producing sufficient quantities of food every day that there is more than enough for everyone; but even in 2022, about 30 per cent of the global population were moderately or severely 'food insecure', which is defined by the FAO as 'lacking regular access to safe and nutritious food'. Therefore, food waste reduction is "an opportunity to reduce costs and to tackle some of the biggest environmental and social issues of our time - fighting climate change and addressing food insecurity", the report's authors claim.
Regardless of whether the food is consumed, discarded or wasted, greenhouse gases (GHG) are generated at all stages of the food supply system - from production to handling, transportation, storage, and distribution. Together with transportation, food processing, packaging, and wastes have put the food supply chain at the top of the list of GHG emitters worldwide. For example, the shipments of fruits and vegetables double their production-related emissions owing to the imperative of transporting large volumes in temperature-controlled settings.
Reducing food loss and waste (FLW) is mentioned in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-12 of the United Nations on 'Ensuring Sustainable Consumption and Production', more specifically in the Target-12.3. The latter calls for halving per capita global food wastage at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses, by the year 2030.The Food Loss Index measures losses for key commodities in a country across the supply chain, up to but not including retail level. The FAO monitors it on behalf of the United Nations. On the other hand, the Food Waste Index measures food and inedible parts wasted at the retail and consumer level (food service and households), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) looks after this aspect on behalf of the UN. The reduction of FLW is vital for making the agrifood systems more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, thereby diminishing its adverse impact on the planet, and ensuring food security and nutrition for all humans. This reduction would also address climate change and its impacts, and is aimed at cutting climate-related shocks in the food supply system.
The UNEP report prescribes an approach that has been found to help drive food waste reduction across the food supply chain - the public private partnership (PPP) approach. PPP is about working together to deliver a shared goal. "In tackling food loss and waste, this means a collaboratively agreed, self-determined 'pact' or agreement to take action on food waste generated at different stages of the food system" (adapted from REFRESH 2021). This involves bringing together stakeholders either across the whole food supply chain, or within a particular sector or stage of the supply chain. By uniting stakeholders around common goals, the PPP aims to overcome challenges of food system fragmentation. The establishment of a PPP is an explicit recognition that we all have a role to play in food loss and waste reduction - from international organisations and national governments through to large and small businesses - all the way to consumers. "This is an approach that is already operating across the globe and having meaningful impacts on food waste reduction, tackling food insecurity, and reducing costs".
As opined by the authors of the UNEP report, the problem is everywhere and requires solutions everywhere. The solutions may include: foregoing aesthetic standards set by buyers in order to reduce wastage; donating unused food throughout the production line; trusting the five senses while making judgement about food; requesting smaller portions of food for reducing calories; investing in on-site preservation and storage; composting unused food; improving the family farmers' access to education; establishing low-waste incentives; and collecting and distributing food waste data.
The UNEP Food Waste Index Report provides the most accurate global estimates on food waste at retail and consumer levels, and offers guidance to countries on improving data collection and best practices in consonance with the SDG-12.3 target of halving global food waste by the year 2030. It would not be wise to leave the burden of solving 'food waste and loss problem' to ordinary humans, when it requires solutions across industries, food sectors, governance, and consumers.
Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed is a retired Additional Secretary, ex-Editor of Bangladesh Quarterly, and currently a consultant to FAO Bangladesh Representation.
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