Even as the issue of global hunger continues to occupy a place of prominence among the priorities of the international community, a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report released earlier this week asserts that, globally, more than one billion meals a day went uneaten in households across the world in 2022, even as 783 million people were affected by hunger and a third of humanity faced food insecurity.
The disclosure, made in Nairobi, Kenya earlier this week, amounts to a shocking revelation in the disparities that exist in the global food distribution regime and asks serious questions of governments and international organizations charged with devising strategies aimed at pushing back global hunger. The shocking ‘food waste’ malady is among the key elements contained in the report which states that setting aside widespread hunger, food waste continues to hurt the global economy and fuel climate change, nature loss and pollution.
Titled ‘The UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024’, the report, co-authored by UNEP and Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a United Kingdom-based non-profit recycling advocate group, is believed to provide the most accurate global estimate on food waste at retail and consumer levels. Its objective, its authors say, is to provide guidance for countries on improving data collection and proffer best practices on improving data collection and moving from measuring to reducing food waste.
According to the Report, in 2022 “there were 1.05 billion tonnes of food waste generated (including inedible parts), amounting to 132 kilograms per capita and almost one-fifth of all food available to consumers.” Of the total amount of food wasted in 2022, “60 per cent happened at the household level, with food services and retail outlets responsible for 28 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.” While UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen, tagged food waste “a major development issue,” he also alluded to the fact that the impact of waste is having a substantial impact on climate and nature.
