‘1 in 7 people starving’

MANILA, Philippines - About 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted every year and yet one in seven people is starving, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

IFAD president Kanayo Nwanze said post-harvest crop losses and waste are major impediments to the global supply of food, especially in poor rural communities.

For small-holder farmers, post-harvest losses have many causes. Chief among them are poor storage and processing facilities for perishable crops, lack of decent roads for the speedy transport of agricultural produce, and lack of market access to sell their produce before it is lost.

“Because small-scale farming households are among the poorest of the poor, they are particularly vulnerable to both food insecurity and environmental degradation,” IFAD said.

Food waste and loss were highlighted during this year’s World Environment Day last June 5. The event was organized by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) to generate awareness and action on critical environmental issues.

The theme for this year – “Think. East. Save. Reduce Your Foodprint” – builds on a global campaign launched by UNEP, the Food and Agriculture Organization and other development agencies earlier this year.

The campaign encourages consumers to reduce food waste by making informed choices that can minimize the environmental impact of food production when about a third of global food production is either wasted or lost, causing an enormous drain on natural resources.

IFAD supports programs and projects addressing post-harvest losses and other food waste.

In the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, IFAD and the government have worked together to expand maize storage facilities. Improved storage, combined with higher-yielding seeds, can help farmers shorten their “hungry season” or the period when food from the previous year’s crops has run out and the next harvest is yet to be reaped.

In Ethiopia, the IFAD financed the Agricultural Marketing Improvement Program that supports the government’s commitment to better marketing of small-holders’ food crops. The program also seeks to enhance processing, storage and transport technologies in order to reduce post-harvest losses and increase returns to farmers.

IFAD said this is just one of many similar initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa, where up to 40 percent of crop production is lost because of deterioration after harvest.

“Post-harvest losses on this scale are scandalous, particularly on a continent where millions go hungry,” Nwanze said.

“If we want farmers to grow a surplus, they need processing and safe storage facilities so they are not forced to watch their harvested crops eaten by pests or spoil in un-insulated sheds. They need roads that are not only paved but able to withstand more frequent and extreme weather. And they need reliable access to electricity and clean water, as well as links to markets and information,” he added.

In this sense, IFAD said, the problem of food waste, while itself a cause of hunger and environmental degradation, is also a symptom of the broader issues of poverty and inadequate infrastructure facing small-holder farming households throughout the developing world.