Reducing food lost or wasted means more food for all, less greenhouse gas emissions, less environmental pressure, especially on water and land resources, increased productivity and economic growth, and more sustainable societies.
Background
Reducing food lost or wasted means more food for all, less greenhouse gas emissions, less environmental pressure, especially on water and land resources, increased productivity and economic growth, and more sustainable societies.
Statistics revealed that up to 40 per cent of the total food produced each year is lost or wasted in Rwanda. This represents 21% of the comprehensive land use, 16% of its greenhouse gas emissions, and accounts 12% loss to Rwanda’s annual gross domestic product.
Based on these recent studies, there is no doubt that this is a severe threat to the country’s economy, while 19% of the population does not have enough to eat. Therefore, addressing this challenge is essential to building a regenerative and resilient food system that helps mitigate climate change, reverse nature loss, and deliver positive outcomes for both producers and consumers.
In this regard, it is paramount to organize and train a task force that is a champion team with members from relevant organizations and institutions in both the public, private, and non-profit sectors to take this issue as their own by looking for a long-term solution. Thus, it is necessary to have the “Food Waste Reduction and Management Project” in Rwanda. Different organizations/ institutions’ focal points sitting in the task force use their experiences to guide, advise, and orient the cities in food waste reduction and management. The task force’s expectation is to produce recommendations for cities at the end of this project and report to their respective institutions/organizations recommendations and their implication in food waste reduction and management. The team will embark on a solid plan to reduce and eliminate food waste through organizing institutions into a food waste task force; organizing a food waste inspection series by the task force; training the task force members on food waste management and reduction in food markets to greening the city; facilitating the development of the action plan for the taskforce focusing specifically on food markets; creating awareness on food waste reduction among public institutions and markets; and training of food retailers operating in food market.