Although millions of people go hungry worldwide, wastage of food is an unrecognised problem in the world. Efforts are being made to provide food to people and reduce the risk of hunger, but addressing the issue of food wastage seems to be nowhere on anyone’s agenda. In 2022, about 783 million people were affected by hunger while over one billion meals were wasted daily across the world. According to the Food Wastage Index Report 2024 released by the UN Environment Program, a shocking 1.05 billion tonnes of food was wasted last year. While food wastage is an ethical issue, it costs $1 trillion per year to the global economy, necessitating an urgent need to tackle this crisis very seriously.
Though Pakistan is an agricultural country, the situation is not promising here too, as millions of people in the country are suffering from food insecurity. According to the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency, 36 million tonnes of food items are wasted every year in the country. To discourage food wastage, there has to be a broad national strategy improvising food storage infrastructure, raising awareness and educational drives regarding hazardous impacts of food wastage.
RIAZ AHMED SOOMRO
SHIKARPUR
