Nairobi, Kenya — The world will waste an estimated 19% of the food produced globally by 2022, or about 1.05 billion tons, according to a new report from the United Nations.
The UN Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index Report, published on Wednesday, tracks countries’ progress to halve food waste by 2030.
The UN said the number of countries reporting for the index has almost doubled from the first report in 2021. The 2021 report estimated that 17% of food produced globally in 2019, or 931 million tonnes (1.03 billion tons), was wasted, but authors cautioned against direct comparisons due to the lack of sufficient data from many countries.
The report was co-authored by UNEP and the Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP), an international charity.
Researchers analyzed country data on households, food service and retailers. They found that each person wastes approximately 79 kilograms of food annually, equivalent to at least 1 billion meals wasted worldwide every day.
Most of the waste – 60% – ended up in households. About 28% came from food service or restaurants, and about 12% from retailers.
“It’s a travesty,” said co-author Clementine O’Connor, UNEP’s food waste focal point. “It doesn’t make sense and it’s a complex problem, but through collaboration and systematic action it can be tackled.”
The report comes at a time when 783 million people around the world face chronic hunger and many places face deepening food crises.
Food waste is also a global problem because of the environmental burden of its production, including the land and water needed to grow crops and animals and the greenhouse gas emissions it produces, including methane, a powerful gas responsible for about 30 percent of global warming. since pre-industrial times.
Food loss and waste generate 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. If it were a country, it would rank third after China and the US
Fadila Jumare, a Nigeria-based project officer at the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics who has studied food waste prevention in Kenya and Nigeria, says the problem is having further detrimental effects on many people who are already food insecure and cannot afford healthy diets. to afford.
“For humanity, food waste means less food available to the poorest people,” said Jumare, who was not involved in the report.
Brian Roe, a food waste researcher at Ohio State University who was not involved in the report, said the index is important for tackling food waste.
“The key takeaway is that reducing the amount of food wasted is a path that can lead to many desirable outcomes: resource conservation, reduced environmental damage, greater food security, and more land for uses other than landfills and food production.” said Roe, who was not involved in the report.
The report shows remarkable growth in reporting on food waste in low- and middle-income countries, the authors said. But it could fall to richer countries to take the lead in international cooperation and policy development to reduce food waste, they said.
According to the report, many governments, regional and industry groups are using public-private partnerships to reduce food waste and its contribution to climate and water stress. Governments and municipalities work together with companies in the food chain, with companies committed to measuring food waste.
According to the report, food redistribution – including donating surplus food to food banks and charities – is key in tackling food waste among retailers.
One group doing that is Food Banking Kenya, a nonprofit organization that takes surplus food from farms, markets, supermarkets and warehouses and redistributes it to schoolchildren and vulnerable populations. Food waste is an increasing problem in Kenya, where an estimated 4.45 million tons of food are wasted annually.
“We have a positive impact on society by providing nutritious food and also have a positive impact on the environment by reducing harmful gas emissions,” said John Mukuhi, co-founder and executive director of the group.
The report’s authors said they found that differences in per capita food waste between high- and low-income countries were surprisingly small.
Richard Swannel, co-author and director of Impact Growth at WRAP, said this shows that food waste “is not a rich global problem. It is a global problem.”
“The data is very clear on this point: there is a problem around the world and one that we could all tackle tomorrow to save ourselves money and reduce the impact on the environment,” he said.
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