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Africa/Global: Half of World's Food Lost to Waste
AfricaFocus Bulletin
Jan 23 2013 (130123)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
"The world produces about four billion metric tonnes of
food per year, but wastes up to half of this food through
poor practices and inadequate infrastructure. By
improving processes and infrastructure as well as
changing consumer mindsets, we would have the ability to
provide 60-100% more food to feed the world's growing
population." - Institution of Mechanical Engineers
There are many reasons that the common focus on simply
increasing production of food is misleading as a
'solution' to the issue of combating hunger and providing
adequate food for everyone: issues of inequality and
distribution, the kind and quality of diet,
sustainability of production systems, and more. This new
report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers,
however, stresses a factor that has hardly made it into
policy debates. That is, the extraordinary volume of food
that is produced but then wasted, at different stages of
the distribution cycle.
While the pattern of waste differs substantially between
rich and poor countries, the scale is enormous in every
case. This report makes it crystal clear that food
sustainability policies must encompass not only
sustainable production at the source, but the
sustainability of distribution and consumption systems.
The FAO, UN Environmental Programme and other agencies
have just launched a campaign aimed at countering food
waster in the retailer and distribution channels. See
http://www.thinkeatsave.org/
For a news article on the campaign, see
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43975
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains the press release and executive summary from the new report by the Institute of
Mechanical Engineers. The full report is available at
http://www.imeche.org / direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/arvrdof
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on food and
agriculture issues, visit http://www.africafocus.org/agexp.php
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++
New report: as much as 2 billion tonnes of all food
produced ends up as waste
Institution of Mechanical Engineers calls on urgent
action to prevent 50% of all food produced in the world
ending up as waste
News release
http://www.imeche.org / direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/arvrdof
10 January 2013
[The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was established
in 1847 and has some of the world's greatest engineers in
its history books. It currently has about 100,000
members, representing mechanical engineers involved in a
diversity of fields such as the automotive, rail,
aerospace, medical, power and construction industries.]
A new report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
has found that as much as 50% of all food produced around
the world never reaches a human stomach due to issues as
varied as inadequate infrastructure and storage
facilities through to overly strict sell-by dates, buyone
-get-one free offers and consumers demanding
cosmetically perfect food.
With UN predictions that there could be about an extra
three billion people to feed by the end of the century
and an increasing pressure on the resources needed to
produce food, including land, water and energy, the
Institution is calling for urgent action to tackle this
waste.
The report 'Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not' found that:
- between 30% and 50% or 1.2-2 billion tonnes of food
produced around the world each year never reaches a human
stomach;
- as much as 30% of UK vegetable crops are not harvested
due to them failing to meet exacting standards based on
their physical appearance, while up to half of the food
that's bought in Europe and the USA is thrown away by the
consumer;
- about 550 billion m3 of water is wasted globally in
growing crops that never reach the consumer;
- it takes 20-50 times the amount of water to produce 1
kilogram of meat than 1 kilogram of vegetables;
- the demand for water in food production could reach
10-13 trillion m3 a year by 2050. This is 2.5 to 3.5
times greater than the total human use of fresh water
today and could lead to more dangerous water shortages
around the world;
- there is the potential to provide 60-100% more food by
eliminating losses and waste while at the same time
freeing up land, energy and water resources.
Dr Tim Fox, Head of Energy and Environment at the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers said:
"The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is
staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the
world's growing population – as well as those in hunger
today. It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water
and energy resources that were used in the production,
processing and distribution of this food.
"The reasons for this situation range from poor
engineering and agricultural practices, inadequate
transport and storage infrastructure through to
supermarkets demanding cosmetically perfect foodstuffs
and encouraging consumers to overbuy through buy-one-getone
free offers.
"As water, land and energy resources come under
increasing pressure from competing human demands,
engineers have a crucial role to play in preventing food
loss and waste by developing more efficient ways of
growing, transporting and storing foods.
"But in order for this to happen Governments, development
agencies and organisations like the UN must work together
to help change people's mindsets on waste and discourage
wasteful practices by farmers, food producers,
supermarkets and consumers."
By 2075 the UN predicts that the world's population is
set to reach around 9.5 billion, which could mean an
extra three billion mouths to feed. A key issue to
dealing with this population growth is how to produce
more food in a world with resources under competing
pressures – particularly given the added stresses caused
by global warming and the increasing popularity of eating
meat – which requires around 10 times the land resources
of food like rice or potatoes.
The world produces about four billion metric tonnes of
food per year, but wastes up to half of this food through
poor practices and inadequate infrastructure. By
improving processes and infrastructure as well as
changing consumer mindsets, we would have the ability to
provide 60-100% more food to feed the world's growing
population.
The 'Global Food; Waste Not,Want Not' report recommends
that:
- The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) works
with the international engineering community to ensure
governments of developed nations put in place programmes
that transfer engineering knowledge, design know-how, and
suitable technology to newly developing countries. This
will help improve produce handling in the harvest, and
immediate post-harvest stages of food production.
- Governments of rapidly developing countries
incorporate waste minimisation thinking into the
transport infrastructure and storage facilities currently
being planned, engineered and built.
- Governments in developed nations devise and implement
policy that changes consumer expectations. These should
discourage retailers from wasteful practices that lead to
the rejection of food on the basis of cosmetic
characteristics, and losses in the home due to excessive
purchasing by consumers.
Notes to Editors
For further information, images or to interview Dr Tim
Fox please contact Erica Herrero-Martinez at the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers' Press Office on Tel:
020 7304 6877 / Mob: 0773 064 4134 or email
media@imeche.org
Feeding the 9 Billion: The tragedy of waste
Institute of Mechanical Engineers
http://www.imeche.org/knowledge/themes/environment/global-food
By 2075, the United Nations' mid-range projection for
global population growth predicts that human numbers will
peak at about 9.5 billion people. This means that there
could be an extra three billion mouths to feed by the end
of the century, a period in which substantial changes are
anticipated in the wealth, calorific intake and dietary
preferences of people in developing countries across the
world.
Such a projection presents mankind with wide-ranging
social, economic, environmental and political issues that
need to be addressed today to ensure a sustainable future
for all. One key issue is how to produce more food in a
world of finite resources.
Today, we produce about four billion metric tonnes of
food per annum. Yet due to poor practices in harvesting,
storage and transportation, as well as market and
consumer wastage, it is estimated that 30–50% (or 1.2–2
billion tonnes) of all food produced never reaches a
human stomach. Furthermore, this figure does not reflect
the fact that large amounts of land, energy, fertilisers
and water have also been lost in the production of
foodstuffs which simply end up as waste. This level of
wastage is a tragedy that cannot continue if we are to
succeed in the challenge of sustainably meeting our
future food demands.
Where Food Waste Happens
In 2010, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
identified three principal emerging population groups
across the world, based on characteristics associated
with their current and projected stage of economic
development.
- Fully developed, mature, post-industrial societies,
such as those in Europe, characterised by stable or
declining populations which are increasing in age.
- Late-stage developing nations that are currently
industrialising rapidly, for example China, which will
experience decelerating rates of population growth,
coupled with increasing affluence and age profile.
- Newly developing countries that are beginning to
industrialise, primarily in Africa, with high to very
high population growth rates (typically doubling or
tripling their populations by 2050), and characterised by
a predominantly young age profile.
Each group over the coming decades will need to address
different issues surrounding food production, storage and
transportation, as well as consumer expectations, if we
are to continue to feed all our people.
Third World and Developing Nations
In less-developed countries, such as those of sub-Saharan
Africa and South-East Asia, wastage tends to occur
primarily at the farmer-producer end of the supply chain.
Inefficient harvesting, inadequate local transportation
and poor infrastructure mean that produce is frequently
handled inappropriately and stored under unsuitable farm
site conditions.
Developed Nations
In mature, fully developed countries such as the UK,
more-efficient farming practices and better transport,
storage and processing facilities ensure that a larger
proportion of the food produced reaches markets and
consumers. However, characteristics associated with
modern consumer culture mean produce is often wasted
through retail and customer behaviour.
Major supermarkets, in meeting consumer expectations,
will often reject entire crops of perfectly edible fruit
and vegetables at the farm because they do not meet
exacting marketing standards for their physical
characteristics, such as size and appearance. For
example, up to 30% of the UK's vegetable crop is never
harvested as a result of such practices. Globally,
retailers generate 1.6 million tonnes of food waste
annually in this way.
Of the produce that does appear in the supermarket,
commonly used sales promotions frequently encourage
customers to purchase excessive quantities which, in the
case of perishable foodstuffs, inevitably generate
wastage in the home. Overall between 30% and 50% of what
has been bought in developed countries is thrown away by
the purchaser.
Better use of our Finite Resources
Wasting food means losing not only life-supporting
nutrition but also precious resources, including land,
water and energy. As a global society therefore, tackling
food waste will help contribute towards addressing a
number of key resource issues:
Effective Land Usage
Over the last five decades, improved farming techniques
and technologies have helped to significantly increase
crop yields along with a 12% expansion of farmed land
use. However, with global food production already
utilising about 4.9Gha of the 10Gha usable land surface
available, a further increase in farming area without
impacting unfavourably on what remains of the world's
natural ecosystems appears unlikely. The challenge is
that an increase in animal-based production will require
greater land and resource requirement, as livestock
farming demands extensive land use. One hectare of land
can, for example, produce rice or potatoes for 19–22
people per annum. The same area will produce enough lamb
or beef for only one or two people. Considerable tensions
are likely to emerge, as the need for food competes with
demands for ecosystem preservation and biomass production
as a renewable energy source.
Water Usage
Over the past century, fresh water abstraction for human
use has increased at more than double the rate of
population growth. Currently about 3.8 trillion m3 of
water is used by humans per annum. About 70% of this is
consumed by the global agriculture sector, and the level
of use will continue to rise over the coming decades.
Indeed, depending on how food is produced and the
validity of forecasts for demographic trends, the demand
for water in food production could reach 10–13 trillion
m3 annually by mid-century. This is 2.5 to 3.5 times
greater than the total human use of fresh water today.
Better irrigation can dramatically improve crop yield and
about 40% of the world's food supply is currently derived
from irrigated land. However, water used in irrigation is
often sourced unsustainably, through boreholes sunk into
poorly managed aquifers. In some cases government
development programmes and international aid
interventions exacerbate this problem. In addition, we
continue to use wasteful systems, such as flood or
overhead spray, which are difficult to control and lose
much of the water to evaporation. Although the drip or
trickle irrigation methods are more expensive to install,
they can be as much as 33% more efficient in water use as
well as being able to carry fertilisers directly to the
root.
In processing of foods after the agricultural stage,
there are large additional uses of water that need to be
tackled in a world of growing demand. This is
particularly crucial in the case of meat production,
where beef uses about 50 times more water than
vegetables. In the future, more- effective washing
techniques, management procedures, and recycling and
purification of water will be needed to reduce wastage.
Energy Usage
Energy is an essential resource across the entire food
production cycle, with estimates showing an average of
7–10 calories of input being required in the production
of one calorie of food. This varies dramatically
depending on crop, from three calories for plant crops to
35 calories in the production of beef. Since much of this
energy comes from the utilisation of fossil fuels,
wastage of food potentially contributes to unnecessary
global warming as well as inefficient resource
utilisation.
In the modern industrialised agricultural process – which
developing nations are moving towards in order to
increase future yields – energy usage in the making and
application of agrochemicals such as fertilisers and
pesticides represents the single biggest component. Wheat
production takes 50% of its energy input for these two
items alone. Indeed, on a global scale, fertiliser
manufacturing consumes about 3–5% of the world's annual
natural gas supply. With production anticipated to
increase by 25% between now and 2030, sustainable energy
sourcing will become an increasingly major issue. Energy
to power machinery, both on the farm and in the storage
and processing facilities, together with the direct use
of fuel in field mechanisation and produce
transportation, adds to the energy total, which currently
represents about 3.1% of annual global energy
consumption.
Recommendations
Rising population combined with improved nutrition
standards and shifting dietary preferences will exert
pressure for increases in global food supply. Engineers,
scientists and agriculturalists have the knowledge, tools
and systems that will assist in achieving productivity
increases. However, pressure will grow on finite
resources of land, energy and water. The potential to
provide 60–100% more food by simply eliminating losses,
while simultaneously freeing up land, energy and water
resources for other uses, is an opportunity that should
not be ignored. In order to begin tackling the challenge,
the Institution recommends that:
- The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) works
with the international engineering community to ensure
governments of developed nations put in place programmes
that transfer engineering knowledge, design know-how, and
suitable technology to newly developing countries. This
will help improve produce handling in the harvest, and
immediate post-harvest stages of food production.
- Governments of rapidly developing countries
incorporate waste minimisation thinking into the
transport infrastructure and storage facilities currently
being planned, engineered and built.
- Governments in developed nations devise and implement
policy that changes consumer expectations. These should
discourage retailers from wasteful practices that lead to
the rejection of food on the basis of cosmetic
characteristics, and losses in the home due to excessive
purchasing by consumers.
AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic
publication providing reposted commentary and analysis on
African issues, with a particular focus on U.S. and
international policies. AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by
William Minter.
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