Food losses and wastage; a threat to our survival

For many, food losses and food wastage are the same. Yes, they may be similar in meaning but technically, the two are different. Food losses may not be deliberate. It is mostly through accidental occurrences. On the other hand, food wastage is largely deliberate and mostly anthropological.

For instance, a car carting food items from the farm gate suddenly had an accident and some of the food got stained with dirt or oil which is unsafe for human use, that amount of food is referenced as food loss.

Kwame fills his bowl with more food than he can consume then throws the leftover in the bin, that is food wastage. In both situations, the food is not utilized though but I’m sure you will agree with my basic explanation of the two.

Around 14 percent of losses occur between harvest and wholesale markets. According to FAO, an estimated $400 billion of food is lost annually. This is huge and enough to feed the entire African continent. But food loss is not only concerned with the monetary value it carries, there are also social and environmental concerns of food losses.

It is also estimated that 75 million cubic meters of water is used to produce fruits and vegetables that are not consumed annually. This means that 912 trillion kilocalories and micronutrients never get consumed (FOA, 2023). Therefore, a kilogram of food wasted or lost reaps a negative impact on our economy, human life, and environment.

Another shocking revelation is that 715 million hectares of land vegetation are lost to unused meat and animal products. There is also scientific evidence linking Green House Gases production to food losses equivalent to 1.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, according to a study by Food and Agriculture Organization.

This does not include greenhouse gases released at landfill sites as a result of the decay of waste food products. It does not also factor in the cost of wasted food products at the retail and consumer level in our public eating places and homes worldwide.

In Ghana, Food losses possess a great challenge to us as a country. An estimated 66% of fruits and vegetables, 40% of root crops, and 21% of grains are lost every year (AFR100, 2020). This means we lose 66 out of every 100 fruit and vegetables we produce, 40 out of the very 100 tubers of yam, cassava, cocoyam, etc, and 21 out of every 100 grains of maize or rice we produce in this country.

A larger part of the losses occurs mainly due to the inadequate efforts towards processing and preservation of our farm harvests. A Harvard University research states that nearly 3.2 million tons of food are either lost or wasted along the food value chain in Ghana. This according to them equivalent to some GHS762 billion ($64.6 annually).

Just to let you know how dangerous food losses are, another report by the Danish Embassy in Ghana states that, Ghana losses about $1.9 billion annually due to losses in the vegetable and yam production sub-sectors only. However, Ghana is a country with about half of its population food insecure.

Whiles we are running to the IMF for a $3 billion facility for 3yrs, we are losing almost 2/3rds of that money annually in losses of our total vegetable and yam production.

What this means is that, if we are to make conscious efforts to cutting our food losses by a third, Ghana wouldn’t be needing any financial bailout from the IMF. We would also be making more money to expand our infrastructural programmes and initiatives.

Acknowledging the many efforts by various governments to deal with these issues, I personally think their commitments are not enough. At a crucial time when there are many activities demanding farmlands such as our human settlements, industrialization, and galamsey which has taken over our arable lands and caused mass destruction, pragmatic efforts borne out of a serious political will and ardent leadership are imminent. Governments need to as a matter of urgency;

1. Initiate achievable plans for industrialization - targeting food processing factories and storage facilities to increase the shelf lives of our food products, especially fruits and vegetables.

2. Initiate measures that encourage food utilization such as building affordable district warehouses and storage facilities where farmers and even middlemen can store their produce waiting for consumers to buy them at a cost.

3. A well-coordinated education and sensitization of the populace on ways to reduce food losses and wastage in our homes and public eateries. They must also be educated on the economic, social, and environmental consequences of food losses and wastage.

4. Introduction of food banks where persons with enough foodstuffs but lack the storage space may store their food at a fee. The Ghana National Buffer Stock Company can be empowered to provide such services.

5. Laws could be enacted to make sure people who deliberately waste food are made to pay more for the food. For instance, restaurants, hotels, and other public eateries are levied based on their daily food waste regimes. This can be done by employing compliance officers at our local levels.

6. Tax rebates and incentives to be given to companies and entrepreneurs who venture into food processing and storage. There can be defined terms and conditions for a company or individual to qualify for such relief services.

7. Bringing on board researchers, CSOs, NGOs, experts, religious and traditional leaders, academic institutions, the media, etc to draw a collective means of reducing food losses and wastage may also be necessary at this crucial time

These measures may not be exhaustive. But we need to, as a country be concerned about getting to cut down our food and losses and wastage. Food is worth much more than what is paid for. Let’s stop food losses and waste for the sake of the earth and humanity.