So many things are wrong in this Universe and human factor could be attributed to several of this defects. Aside various Natural disasters and outbreak of diseases, food waste is another monumental problem, with a staggering 1.6 Billion tons for food perishing, which is approximately $1.2 Trillion in value is lost to food wastes and loss.
If you ask me, this is a growing problem globally, to be more concise, the amount of food valued above is equivalent to one-third of the total amount of food that is produced annually worldwide. By physical comparison, this is equal in size to Manhattan in the US and by estimation, economy and financial experts says the total food loss/waste yearly could hit 2.1 Billion tons by 2030 and that is approximately $1.5Trillion in value.
To cut low this rate of food losses and wastes, the key factors responsible needs to be figure out first and then analyse. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and World Resources Institute stated that this food wastes results in more reported cases of global hunger problem which is accountable for over 870million people around the World going hungry and under-nourished. This food waste/loss also accounts for 8% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.
Wastage and food loss takes places at the beginning and the end of food production (value chain), more noticeable at production stage which harvesting, transportation, storage accounts for. Then during consumption which is the final phase, in food processing.
Developing Nations face s bigger food loss and wastages due to production and transportation from different farms, developed countries on the other hand faces a different problem in food waste and this is in the food consumption phase. This is where most damage is done and it occurs mainly between retailers and consumers, unlike third world countries often plagued with storage and preservation problem.
Could this be a huge misuse of resources? Because food production is the first resources for survival right before early civilization, food is one of the most viable resource to survive in any living organism, but the rate of loss and wastage is now an emerging issue of concern globally that is so critical prompting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to be laden with the task of cutting down these wastage and losses into half by the year 2030.
Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm having more than 80 offices all around the World stated that five causes are responsible for these loss and once this five factors are addressed, this could drop the huge amount in loss valued close to $700 Billion in food waste and loss. To cut low this loss rate, some initiatives were created by BCG, the initiatives consist of over seventy plus viable actions to be taken as shown in the chart below;
Consumers, the government, farmers, companies and NGOs play critical roles in the initiatives designed by the BCG, the listed factors (categories involved in food production) need coordination and commitment to help combat this food wastes. Thanks for reading.
For Further Reading on World Food Waste and Loss go here; BCG