We Waste so Much, Yet so Many are Hungry!
Understanding food waste and reducing it⬇️
Food is the basic need of human being aside from clothes and shelter.
Amid a global pandemic, a season of food shortage turmoil worldwide. We are also in the midst of pervasive inflation, humanity has gone through a lot.
What do I mean by Food Shortage?
Essentially, a situation of unavailability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or scarcity of food causing widespread starvation, disease, or death.
Causes
For many countries, the global food crisis has already begun. Different regions of the world are facing food shortage threats, be it war, climate change, or inflation.
- War: The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has significantly aggravated one of the most severe food and energy crises in recent history, which now threatens the poorest and most vulnerable globally.
Ukraine which has long been the breadbasket of the world, in places like Ethiopia, 8.6 million are going hungry as the region is pushed into a catastrophic hunger crisis. War will affect all of our futures, regardless of where we live. - Food loss from the climate crisis: climate change is impacting food production. Despite not being the greatest carbon producer, Africa is one of the regions most affected by climate change. With intense rainfall and flooding in some regions and a lack of rain causing drought in others, mitigating actions must be taken now to protect food production! Drought can severely impair production, thus discouraging local farmers from production, which results in skyrocketing prices. That’s not good for anyone!
According to a report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), ensuring food security and healthy diets for a growing global population will remain a challenge over the next decade, and without additional efforts, the Zero Hunger goal which is a part of the SDG will be missed and greenhouse emissions from agriculture will increase further.
- Inflation: People have to eat and this leads to a critical outcome in poor importing countries, people facing hunger will most likely increase because of lower production. This is why trade plays an important role to balance global supply and demand. We need more production and not less. Climate objectives are good to save the planet, but we also need to feed the people on the planet. Food prices are increasing, and the number of people whose food supply is insecure will inevitably increase.
- Food wastage: Nigeria faces a chronic hunger problem, more than 70% of Nigeria’s population suffers from hunger yet Nigeria still generates 32 million tonnes of food waste per year. This ‘waste number’ increase significantly across Africa, a net food importing continent! Individually and collectively, uncomfortable and important questions must be asked about our food consumption habits. We throw away so much food in households while others are simultaneously starving to death.
Climate change is having an increasing impact and contributing to food insecurity. We’ve seen devastating floods, and droughts because of this, we require accurate and current data for climate adaptation and planning to avoid yield loss. Innovating to ensure food security is how to overcome the challenge of agricultural production.
Fighting Food Waste with Technology
Preventing food waste remains the fastest and easiest way to mitigate food shortages. We must learn to save the resources that went into producing food from going to the least preferred level; landfill.
The solution to reducing food waste should focus on increasing local agricultural capacity and empowering farmers with tech-enabled solutions that can prevent post-harvest losses thus reducing food shortages.
Technology will be the key to increasing food production and achieving food security.
Digital technologies like precision agriculture can help a farmer adapt to modern-day farming challenges and data plays an important role in ensuring efficiency and effectiveness.
As a farmer, you would like to know more about how you can help reduce food shortages and increase food production. Learn more!
