Saving the ‘precious waste’ – The Peninsula

Saving the ‘precious waste’ – The Peninsula

For the last couple of decades, the world has been raising the issue of global food waste, which has seen a phenomenal increase in the recent past, in a more vociferous manner. This problem demands immediate attention and timely action as it is eating into the health and well-being of the humanity, depriving millions of people of food and nutrition leading to malformation, physical and mental disabilities.

It is estimated that some 800 million people go to bed hungry every night, which means one in nine people on the planet are starving or malnourished. Each one of these people could be sufficiently fed on less than a quarter of the portion that is wasted in some of the Western countries.

Qatar, even though not a major food producer, has been paying great attention to wastage of food. Recently the Ministry of Municipality has launched a survey, the first phase of which is already over, to develop a national food waste baseline. The survey, being conducted by the Food Security Department at the Ministry in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), aims at formulating appropriate policies and raising awareness about the issue. The country has adopted a waste management programme, under