Jagdambika Pal: Minimize food loss and waste for the sake of our planet and its people
It will enhance food security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that threaten our collective future. Decaying food releases methane that’s far more potent than carbon dioxide. India is moving to address this crisis and so should others.
Food loss and waste is a global concern that represents not just economic loss, but also the environmental and food security crisis. To put it into perspective, if food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, surpassing the US and China.
Food waste accounts for nearly 8-10% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, which is nearly three times the total emissions from the aviation sector. Decaying food emits methane, a greenhouse gas about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Food production and its inputs emit climate-harming gases too.
Paradoxically, while nearly 20% of all food produced is wasted or lost, around 783 million people are grappling with hunger and about 150 million children under the age of five are suffering from stunted growth due to lack of proper nutrition.
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Tackling food loss and waste is essential for us to address food and nutritional security challenges and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The pressing need to tackle the problem is articulated in India’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3, which sets an ambitious target of reducing per capita global food waste at the retail and consumption levels and significantly cutting food loss along supply chains by 2030.
As estimated, even if just a quarter of all the food binned by households globally is edible, the equivalent of 1 billion meals of edible food is being wasted every single day by homes worldwide. The United Nations Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index Report 2024 states that up to 17% of food wastage occurs between the retail and consumption levels.
This presents substantial opportunities for targeted intervention at these points, such as sustainable packaging solutions that may prolong the shelf-life of food, thereby providing a practical solution to the issue. We also need to improve infrastructure and include practices to preserve nutritional value and reduce wastage.
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While only 21 countries had included food loss or waste reduction in their national climate plans (or Nationally Determined Contributions) by 2022, India has taken great strides to mitigate the same through coordinated measures at every stage of the supply chain by implementing schemes like the PM Kisan Sampada Yojana and production-linked incentive scheme for the food processing industry.
These government programmes focus on modernizing infrastructure, adopting advanced preservation and packaging technologies, reducing wastage and enhancing supply chain efficiency.
Programmes for the creation of backward and forward linkages and the creation of food processing capacities have been designed to drive infrastructural improvements that reduce spoilage and strengthen farm-to-market supply chains. Additionally, the Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure Scheme provides fiscal support for upgradations with the aim of preserving nutritional value, increasing shelf life and raising food quality.
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While addressing the crisis we face requires a collaborative approach in favour of a circular economy that integrates sustainable methods in all operations, it is equally important to ensure that food reaches consumers more efficiently. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, up to 30-40% of food production in developing regions is lost before it even reaches the market, largely because of gaps in post-harvest storage, processing and transportation.
Food processing capabilities must be upgraded for food safety and shelf-life extension, among other objectives. Improved storage facilities and eco-friendly packaging are crucial to this endeavour, even as innovative means of food preservation need to be explored. Harnessing the potential of sustainable solutions like aseptic packaging with recyclable and eco-friendly materials would help reduce the ecological footprint of the processed food industry.
Generating awareness among consumers of responsible and eco-friendly practices through public-private partnerships and public campaigns can be of help in this exercise.
Successfully addressing the crisis of food loss and waste needs dedicated efforts by the entire ecosystem of producers, suppliers and consumers. Food loss and waste must be minimized across the supply chain from end to end. By doing so, countries and communities will benefit from increased food security, better access to healthy diets and reduced malnutrition, while decreasing their greenhouse gas footprints.
The author is a member of the Lok Sabha.
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