World Food Day: Tackling food waste for sustainable Bangladesh

Imagine a typical day in Dhaka. You are rushing towards your workplace when suddenly a foul smelling truck passes by you, leaving a trail of rotten vegetables and fruit on the road. If you ever closely look at the trash trucks you can see piles of rotten vegetables, fruit and food waste are creating that noxious air. All this waste is the non-edible portion of food. Food is the source of human survival and growth and so food security for all citizens is a mandatory requirement to build a holistic society. In reality, the lack of storage capacity, post-production management, technical adoption, over production and purchase and supply chain inefficiencies are the primary reasons behind food waste and food loss.

This year the theme of World Food Day is “Right to foods for a better life and a better future”.

The day was celebrated globally on 16 October. This is based on the fact that the world's farmers produce enough food to feed more than the global population but hunger is still an issue for many.

According to Food Waste Index Report by United Nation Environment Program globally 783  million people suffer from hunger and we waste about 1 billion meals every single day. The report suggests that households in Bangladesh waste 14.10 million tons of food annually.

In Bangladesh food security and nutrition for all citizen is still a major concern. According to The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report published in March 2024, a Bangladeshi household wastes on average 82kg of food each year at home, which is much higher than that in many developed countries, including the US, the Netherlands and Japan. This is an alarming statement for Bangladesh as 36 per cent of the total population of Bangladesh is suffering from food insecurity stated by World Food program (WFP). People are not starving  but the quantity and the quality is largely sacrificed.

Soaring inflation, combined with recurrent natural calamities and diminished income prospects, are placing immense burden on the most impoverished households and leading to severe food insecurity in Bangladesh. Urban food inflation rate reached to 4.85% as quoted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BSS).The imbalanced economic structure and uneven distribution of wealth are creating such situation where riches are getting richer and poor are getting poorer. This disproportionate wealth exacerbates the issue of food waste by promoting overconsumption among the wealthy part of the society.

The food we consume takes a remarkable journey through a complex supply chain and during this journey food loss takes place at any point, resulting in significant economic, social, and environmental consequences. There is a thin line between food loss and food waste.

Food loss happen in primary stages of the food supply, such as production, processing, and distribution of food. This production loss happens due to natural calamities or inadequate pest and disease management factors. Food deficit is most easily conceptualized as a production problem, but constraints on importation as well as storage can also cause or contribute to food deficit.  

On the other hand, food waste occurs when people throw away edible food, either before or after it has gone bad. City dwellers often resist thinking about waste minimization and upcycling to improve the future. It’s true that Bangladesh has moved from a food deficit to a food surplus country but despite of surplus we have to import majority of the food to feed our people.

Implementing some key strategies in a timely manner is crucial for controlling food loss and waste. It’s a common phenomenon is Bangladesh that the cold storage owners create artificial crisis in the market and control the market price, which has long been an unresolved issue requires attention of concerned authorities. There is already inflation in the market, and this syndication is further increasing the price burden on customers. Investment on cold storage facilities and improved transportation equipped with refrigeration system can considerably reduce the spoilage.

Farmers sometimes produce more for extra profit and the extra surplus ultimately leads to food loss. So accurate demand projection has to be encouraged among the farmers. The agricultural extension officials have to play a role to educate farmers about post-harvest handling practices to minimize spoilage.

Hunger, malnutrition was always a burning factor in Bangladesh. A large portion of the population lives below the poverty line, making it difficult to afford nutritious food. There are number of agricultural institutions and private companies who are relentlessly trying to fix that issue but due to lack of regulatory legislations, misinformation, technical savviness, corporate and political influence they can hardly implement most of their initiatives. For instance, genetically modified (GM) crops and foods have been a strongly debated issue over the last few years in Bangladesh.

Our agriculture is also threatened by adverse impacts of climate change (i.e., salinity, drought, flood, storm), insect and disease infestation where high-yielding, stress tolerant GM crops could be a useful tool to meet increasing demands for food. The first GM crop in Bangladesh, was bt brinjal which was released to farmers in 2013. In last 10 years no GMO food was released but scientists continued their research.

Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) in collaboration with Michigan State University working on 3R gene late blight disease resistant potato. This GMO potato variety is under trail and if it’s released it can be a great savior for smallholder farmers and will substantially reduce food loss.
It’s true that introducing any GMO crop is a complex issue but a robust compliance framework can ensure the safe and responsible development and use of GM crops in Bangladesh which can considerably  reduce food loss and feed the nation.

In the capitalist society most consumers are unaware of the environmental, social, and economic impact of food waste, leading to careless disposal of edible food. By constructing a comprehensive national policy focused on reducing food loss and waste across the entire supply chain can solve this problem. This should include guidelines for incentives for food donation, and penalties for wasteful practices in retail and food services. National campaigns can be organized to encourage the consumption of leftover. Every citizen should understand that the society is standing on compassion and coexistence where sharing surplus food can create cohesion in the society.

Mitigating food waste in Bangladesh necessitates a multifaceted strategy that tackles challenges across the entire supply chain, from agricultural production to household consumption. By enhancing infrastructure, increasing public awareness, advocating for sustainable consumption habits, and pushing for policy changes, Bangladesh can substantially reduce food waste and secure a better future for the next generation. These initiatives will not only bolster national food security and economic prosperity but also safeguard the environment and foster long-term sustainability.

* Ishrat Sharmin is a development professional and working as a Communication and Project Manager in Feed the Future Global Biotech Potato Partnership Project in Bangladesh