Context

• According to the United Nations Food Waste Index Report 2024, more than 1 billion tons of grain is wasted worldwide annually.
• In a world with a population of 8 billion, an average of 79 kg of food is wasted per person every year. Whereas around 80 crore people in the world still sleep hungry.

Key Points

• This report is based on the data of the year 2022, which states that 1.05 billion tonnes of grain was wasted all over the world in 2022, which was about 19 percent of the available food.
• The report states that food wastage is not limited to rich or big countries only. In fact, almost the same amount of waste is taking place in smaller and poorer countries. However, food wastage is less in villages compared to cities.
• One reason for this is that there are more pets in villages than in cities and food is distributed among them.
• According to this UN report, billion miles is just an estimate, the figure could be even higher.
• The report also revealed that restaurants, canteens, hotels and other food chains are going to waste 28% of the total food waste in 2022. While retailers are responsible for 12 percent of food wastage.
• Apart from this, in countries which are located in hot areas, there is more per capita food wastage in households. According to the report, this could be due to lack of cold chain and increased consumption of fresh foods with substantial inedible parts.
•  High seasonal temperatures, extreme heat events and the prevalence of drought create problems in storage, processing and transportation, leading to considerable food wastage.
• In view of the above scenario, the report recommends that countries use this index to consistently measure food waste, develop strong national baselines and track progress towards meeting SDG 12.3 target.
•   It is noteworthy that by the year 2022, only 21 countries, including Cabo Verde, China, Namibia, Sierra Leone and the United Arab Emirates, have included food loss in their national climate plans (NDCs).

About the Food Waste Index Report

• The Food Waste Index Report is a United Nations effort to raise awareness about food waste and achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3, which aims to halve world food waste by 2030.
• The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released the first report in 2011.
• This report of the year 2024 is the third report of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Important Facts For Exam

UNEP

• Established: 1972
• Decision to establish: Taken at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1972.
• Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya
• Director: Inger Anderson