WAM DUBAI, 28th August, 2013 (WAM) — Focusing on the issue of high food consumption and wastage of food in the UAE, Emirates Environmental Group organised its 7th Session of Community Lecture Series 2013 yesterday in Dubai under the banner: Save Wasted Food for Zero Hunger. The session looked at the importance of saving food and avoiding wastage of food at all stages of the food chain.
According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, under current production and consumption trends, global food production must increase by 70% by the year 2050 in order to meet the demands of the growing world population. Yet worldwide about one-third of all food produced – equivalent to 1.3 billion tones – gets lost or wasted in the food production and consumption systems every year. Food loss and waste is a global concern today and many global initiatives are being undertaken to address this challenging issue. Food loss and wastage is a serious challenge for sustainable development – socially, economically and environmentally.
Following the theme of the World Environment Day: "Think. Eat. Save . Reduce your Foodprint" and increasing wastage of food in the country, the purpose of the 7th Community Lecture was to highlight the importance of the issue and create awareness amongst all stakeholders to avoid food loss and wastage.
In her welcoming remarks, Habiba Al Mar’ashi, Chairperson, Emirates Environmental Group, said that food loss and waste is a complex problem, with losses occurring throughout the food chain from "farm to fork", increasing pressure on food security both in the region and globally. She added that in medium and high income countries like the UAE, food is wasted and lost mainly at later stages in the supply chain. Food consumption in the UAE is a critical matter of concern.
According to Dubai Municipality Waste Management Department, on regular days, food makes up between 33 and 38 per cent of domestic waste. During festive seasons like Ramadan, this figure goes up to 55 per cent or more and ends up in landfill sites. Raising awareness among industries, retailers and consumers, as well as finding beneficial use for saved food that is presently thrown away, are useful measures to decrease the amount of loss and wastage along with creating an eco-friendly eating culture to change people’s habits.
Moez El Shohdi, Co-Founder and CEO of the Egyptian Food Bank, shared the details of food loss at each step in the food chain and gave some steps to work towards saving the wasted and lost foods through initiatives adopted by the Food Banking Network. The network is a unique programme working towards eliminating hunger from the region by 2020 by creating a diversity of long term development, awareness, educational and feeding programmes by founding food banks in the region, in co-operation with credible, potential partners in all sectors. Sharing the successful initiatives of the network, he pinpointed the need for a collaborative approach at all levels of supply and consumption, giving examples of engagement with hotels, capacity building of farmers, selection of appropriate products, investment in the right infrastructure, efficient transportation and awareness campaigns for cultural change as a way to avoid food loss and wastage and fight hunger together.
WAM/ES/CM
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