Bangladesh is a model of food waste reduction. For most middle class or lower middle class families, throwing food in the dustbin is unthinkable. Surplus food is either divided among extended family or given to poor people nearby.
This year’s slogan for World Environment Day is “Think.Eat.Save.” aimed at raising awareness about the environmental impact of food choices, particularly household food waste.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, consumers in wealthy countries waste 222m tonnes of food every year, which is almost as much food as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa, 230m tonnes.
However, in Bangladesh people are much more attuned to these issues, as around 30% of the population lives below the poverty line, pushing them to save food for another day.
In the capital, it is not uncommon to see rickshaw pullers enjoying rich reclaimed food like pulao and biriyani, bought from roadside food stalls at the unbelievable price of Tk30.
Vendors can afford to sell plates at this cost because they bought the food as wastage from weddings or large public functions. These food sellers usually sell their food in Dhamondi, Shahbag, Kamalapur, Karwan Bazar and Eskaton areas, where many community centers and big hotels are located.
The rate of food wastage is very low in developing nations like Bangladesh, as most people in these countries must allocate around 70% of their income for food, said Dr Quazi Shahabuddin, former director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).
In developed countries, he said, people only needed to allocate around 25% of their income for food, which gives them more options, which ultimately turns to wastage.
But pre- and post-harvest losses are not negligible in Bangladesh. As a result of the use of traditional harvesting methods, farmers in the country lose on average 7% of boro and aman paddy, resulting in approximately Tk2.3bn in losses every year, finds a study of the Rural Development Academy, a state-run organisation.
“Seven percent loss in grains may not seem like a terrific figure, but in terms of cash, it is. The country has to suffer a loss of Tk2.3bn every year during the Boro and Aman seasons alone,” said AKM Zakaria, director of agriculture at the Bogra-based RDA.
The research report also mentioned that delayed harvesting could contribute to a huge amount of grain losses, during the reaping, transporting and handling of the harvested crops. The percentage of loss can be between 20% and 60%.
A report published January 10, 2013, in the UK-based newspaper the Guardian, stated almost half of the world’s food had been thrown away.
Annual per capita food wasted by consumers in Europe and North-America was 95-115 kg, while sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia wasted only 6-11 kg, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
However, the report further suggested that 30-50% of the global food (approximately 1.2-2bn tonnes) produced annually in the world never reach consumers for consumption.
The FAO reported annual per capita food loss in Europe and North America was 280-300kg, and in sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia it is 120-170kg.
The issue of food loss is related not only to consumer behavior, but also to inappropriate infrastructure and storage facility, poor engineering and agriculture practices.
The FAO’s global initiative on food losses and waste reduction suggested strengthening the supply chain through the direct support of farmers and investments in infrastructure, transportation. They also suggested an expansion of the food and packaging industry to help to reduce the amount of food loss and waste.
“Lack of technology in harvesting and processing level is causing higher production loss in the developing nations like Bangladesh, where investment for that technology is not easy,” said Ahsan Uddin Ahmed, a Bangladeshi environmentalist.
Approximately one billion people around the world are ‘going hungry’ and further two billion people will be affected due to inadequate food supply by 2050 as a result of worsening climate and poor food production, reported the Guardian.
The total annual per capita production of edible parts of food for human consumption is, in Europe and North-America, about 900 kg, and in sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia, 460 kg, the FAO study said.