Nearly one billion tons of food is wasted every day worldwide

Aarti Srivastava
UNEP Food Waste Index Report: According to the United Nations, more than one billion tons of food is wasted every day around the world. This has been revealed in the UNEP Food Waste Index report released on 27th of this month. Published ahead of the International Day of Zero Waste (30 March), the report highlights that this wastage of food occurred while 783 million people were struggling with hunger worldwide and one-third of humans were facing food insecurity. Were.

60 percent of food wasted at home

According to the report, in 2022, all households around the world wasted 1.05 billion tonnes of food per day, which was 132 kg per person and almost one-fifth of the total food available to consumers. Of the total food waste in the year 2022, 60 percent was caused at the household level, while food services were responsible for 28 percent and retail was responsible for 12 percent.

This is not a problem only for rich countries

The data confirm that food waste is not just a problem for rich countries. The average level of food waste at household level between high, upper middle and lower middle income countries varies by only seven kilograms per capita. However, households in hot countries produce more food waste per capita. Whereas a comparison of food wastage between urban and rural areas shows that food wastage is less in rural areas. The reason for this could be that in villages the leftover food is fed to cattle and is also used as fertilizer.

Food wastage is a global tragedy: Inger Anderson

UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen is deeply distressed by food being thrown into the garbage. He said that food wastage is a global tragedy. Today, millions of people are forced to remain hungry due to food wastage across the world. He also said that if countries prioritize this issue, they can significantly prevent food loss and waste, reduce climate impacts and economic losses, and accelerate progress on the global goals. Are.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Food Waste

Whatever the reason, wasting food that should have filled one’s stomach is not only hurting the global economy, but our approach is also contributing to climate change and pollution, as well as destroying nature. is also causing harm. According to recent data, food waste contributes eight to ten percent of annual global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—about five times that of the aviation sector. Not only this, land equivalent to about one-third of the world’s agricultural land has been covered with food waste, causing loss of important biodiversity. Whereas in 2022, the global economy faces a loss of approximately one trillion dollars due to food wastage and its waste. Concern about this has been expressed in the recent report of UNEP.