World Food Day 2021: Here are few ways to end global hunger and reduce food wastage

Every year, October 16, is marked as World Food Day to mark the founding of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN). Established in 1945, the main goal of this day is to promote the message that food is a fundamental human right. 

However, this year, World Food Day finds us at a very crucial moment. While the world was already coping with the consequences of climate disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic posed another threat.

As a result of megafires, crops have gone up in flames, lives and livelihoods have been destroyed, thus contributing to global food security challenges.

In an attempt to manage this issue, UN Food Systems Summit convened by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres conveyed how the world needs to move forward to transform agri-food systems.

Early this month, a World Food Forum was successfully convened in Rome. Powered by the global youth, and youth representatives at FAO and our sister agencies, it focuses on harnessing the creativity of younger generations.

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The younger generations will be the ones who will have to face the direct consequences of the climate crisis and malfunctioning agri-food systems. 14 per cent of the food is produced is lost, and 17 per cent is wasted. 

While on one hand, people across the world struggle for their meals, there are people who tend to waste food. There are various ways of preventing food from being wasted, including, shopping smartly - To prevent the food from getting wasted, one needs to get rid of the habit of buying excess food.

Upcycling food can also be another way to save food. Instead of throwing out banana peels, coconut and eggshells, one can use them to fertilise the garden. Coconut shells can also be used as bowls and plant pots. 

Eating the skin can also be considered another important measure. The peels of several fruits, including kiwi, apples and bananas have important nutrients. Apart from being used as eatables, they can also be used as beauty products. 

As per an estimate by FAO, as much as $40 to $50 billion in annual investments on targeted interventions is needed to end hunger by 2030. Also, there are many low-cost, high-impact projects that can help hundreds of millions of people in meeting their food needs.