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Food wastage puts food security at risk
IN an age where climate-induced changes are wrecking havoc with food production and alarm bells being rung that
we would soon be facing a re-run of
the 2008 food crisis, it is ironic to find
that, according to Food and Agriculture Organisation data, as much as 30 40% of the global food production is wasted annually. Roughly translated, that is 1.3 billion tonnes of food getting lost in the supply chain or wasted for multifarious reasons. When one considers that
globally about a billion people go to bed hungry and some 3 billion people are undernourished, such wastage becomes unacceptable. It is interesting to note is that the amount of food wastage is nearly at par between developed and developing countries with 670 and 630 million tonnes respectively. However, food wastage by consumers in rich countries stands at 222 million tonnes that is equivalent to practically the total food production of sub-Saharan Africa, i.e. 230 million tonnes. In case of industrialised countries, the bulk of wastage occurs at the consumption level, whereas for low-income countries, the substantial losses occur at early and middle stages of the supply chain and not so much at consumer level.
In developing countries, most of the food losses occur at production, harvest, post-harvest and processing phases due to a variety of inadequacies: poor infrastructure, low levels of technology and low investment in the
food production system. Chronic food deficiency and the desperate need for cash during the second half of the agriculture season prompts many poor farmers in developing countries to harvest crops too early, resulting in loss of food that is not suitable for consumption. One of the ways to counter this is for resource-poor farmers to organise into groups so that they may avail credit from agricultural financial institutions.
Next is the issue of poor storage facilities and transportation. Poor infrastructure in developing nations automatically translates into fresh products with limited shelflife such as fruits, vegetables, meat and fish
that can readily go to waste in hot climates due to a lack of transportation, proper storage, adequate cooling and access to markets. This requires government intervention in terms of making investments to improve infrastructure and transportation by improving roads, widening access to energy and markets. Once these are in place, the private sector can make investments in improving storage facilities that include cold storage. For instance, in Bangladesh, rickshaw vans are used to transport milk from the countryside to processing plants to Baghabari ghat. Transporting such a perishable item in the warm and humid climate without benefit of a proper cold chain inevitably causes some losses. Again, the fact that rickshaws must traverse long distances
along narrow and winding roads inevitably prolongs the time between collection of milk and delivery to processing plants results in some losses.
The lack of proper market systems in developing nations is one of the major contributing factors to food losses. With few wholesale supermarket and retail facilities boasting appropriate storage and sales conditions, it is inevitable that such centres are overcrowded and not suitable to storing produce under ideal conditions. Given infrastructure constraints common to practically all developing nations, marketing cooperatives provide the ideal solution for small farm-
ers to assemble agricultural products in designated locations which can then be transported in bulk to markets. Marketing cooperatives should aid in reducing food losses significantly.
The causes of food loss or wastage in industrialised countries offer a whole different set of dynamics. Supermarkets dominate the wholesale and retails scene in developed countries, where "appearance quality standards" play a dominant role in deciding which fresh products get shelflife. Stringent requirements on weight, size and shape of products are mandatory, resulting in large portions of crop never entering the food chain. This calls for a significant change in business attitude. In his book Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal,
Tristram Stuart explains that consumers are more concerned with "taste," rather than "shape." Given this wrong perception of what consumers will accept or reject, the food processing industry engages in "trimming" which involves rejection of food due to their wrong size, shape, weight and damaged packaging. Since processing lines in industry are programmed to accept agro products conforming to certain weight and size parameters, much food gets discarded. One of the ways out of this dilemma would be to work out a system whereby charities can collect and sell such products with a different labelling.
Stuart found other disturbing facts. Consumers expect to see a wide range of products to be on display in shops and supermarkets. The downside to this overstocking of produce is that many products do not get sold before expiry date and are inevitably thrown away. Consumer indifference to seeing a lot of food go to waste in rich countries has a lot to do with the fact that such wastage is affordable. Examples are everywhere. Retail stores encourage purchasing of more products than is required by the consumer with bundle offers and continuing in this tradition, food manufacturers produce oversized ready-to-eat meals which do not get consumed fully. Such attitudes cannot be changed overnight. Raising public awareness will need policy initiatives that could include specific curricula to be introduced in the schooling system. Consumers must be taught that throwing food away needlessly is simply not acceptable.
The writer is Assistant Editor, The Daily Star.
***Food wastage by consumers in rich countries stands at222 million tonnes that is equivalent to practically the total food production of sub-Saharan Africa, i.e. 230 million tonnes.***