The World wastes enough food to feed about 2billion people

United Nations, Oct. 24, 2014 (NAN) The UN says the world
wastes enough food to feed an estimated two billion people.
This is contained in a joint new online report by the Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Fund
for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food
Programme (WFP), launched on Friday in Rome.
The report, entittled the Global Community of Practice (CoP)
on Food Loss Reduction, was produced with the goal of
becoming "a global reference point" in the facilitation of
information sharing between stakeholders such as public
entities, civil society and the private sector.
In the report, Ms Maria Semedo, the FAO Deputy-Director-
General for Natural Resources, said that with more than 800
million people in the world still suffering from hunger,
saving food was of paramount importance.
She said "when food is saved, the resources used to
produce it are saved. Reducing waste and losses by not
creating these in the first place should be a priority for all."
According to UN estimates, roughly 30 per cent of global
food production, that is 40-50 per cent of root crops, fruits
and vegetables, 20 per cent of oil seeds, meat and dairy
products and 35 per cent of fish, are either lost or wasted.
These loss in food items amounting to some 1.3 billion
tonnes, was enough to feed two billion people, it added.
Commenting on the report, IFAD Vice-President, Mr Michel
Mordasini, said global efforts to reduce the "unacceptably
high" rates of food loss must also be wholistic.
Mordasini pointed to the role of smallholder farmers who, he
said, were "most vulnerable.
"Available technical solutions have to be made accessible
and affordable to those farming communities.
"I am therefore encouraged by the fact that the Global
Community of Practice on Food Losses will engage with
and tap into the knowledge of farmers and practitioners, as
well as researchers, development agencies and
policymakers."
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that on Sept. 16,
the three UN agencies said more than 800 million people
suffer from hunger.
The State of Food Insecurity in the World Report was
released in Rome by FAO, IFAD and WFP.
The report noted how access to food improved rapidly and
significantly in countries that experienced economic
progress, notably in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia.
Access to food also improved in Southern Asia and Latin
America, but mainly in countries with adequate safety nets
and other forms of social protection.
In spite of significant progress overall, several regions and
sub-regions were lagging behind.
"In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than one in four people
remain chronically undernourished, while in Asia, the
world's most populous region, is home to majority of the
hungry - 526 million people," according to the report
With the number of undernourished people remaining
"unacceptably high", the agency stressed the need to renew
the political commitment to tackle hunger and to transform
it into concrete actions.
Latin America and the Caribbean made the greatest overall
strides in increasing food security, while Oceania
accomplished only a modest improvement, the report
stated.
The FAO, IFAD and WFP report also specified that hunger
eradication required establishing an enabling environment
and an integrated approach.
Meanwhile, the Second International Conference on
Nutrition in Rome from Nov. 19 to Nov. 21, which FAO is
jointly organising with the WHO will focus on the report.
The high-level intergovernmental meeting seeks renewed
political commitment to combat malnutrition with the
overall goal of improving diets and raising nutrition levels.
(NAN)