NOT many realise that World Food Day is celebrated on Oct 16. Organisations that mark the occasion include the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
This could be due to the fact that the food security level in Malaysia is high. In recent years, based on studies by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Malaysia ranks 41 out of 113 countries on the Global Food Security Index. Malaysia ranks second in Southeast Asia, just behind Singapore in terms of food security.
Unfortunately, in Malaysia, there is the ugly culture of food wastage.
According to Solid Waste Corporation Management (SWCorp), Malaysians generate 16,687.5 tonnes of food waste daily. This amount could feed 12 million individuals three times a day.
If all this goes into landfills, it can fill the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers to the brim in just a month or two. That is the amount of avoidable food waste generated by Malaysians.
The reality is, space is running out. Malaysia had 170 waste disposal sites in 2016. Only 14 had sanitary landfill status. When the amount of waste increases, managing costs increase.
When food waste goes into landfills, it will disintegrate and emit greenhouse gases, which have an adverse impact on the climate and contribute to global warming.
Thus, food waste management systems should be reengineered.
Food waste is most often associated with the behaviour of consumers, retailers and the food service sector, but food waste and losses take place across the food supply chains.
Food waste has repercussions on hunger and poverty alleviation, nutrition, income generation and economic growth.
A more efficient food supply system that can reduce waste would result in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Less wastage is associated with more efficiency. However, solutions to reduce losses will often lead to an increased use of energy, especially for preservation of food products.
Despite a high food security index, Malaysia should not be complacent, especially as we are reliant on imports.
On a micro scale, in responding to this issue, the undergraduates of Universiti Teknologi Mara Segamat in Johor started a programme to tackle food waste.
Grounded on the theory of social entrepreneurship, this creative way of salvaging food waste has won them a Silver Award in the Digital International Invention Innovation and Design competition recently.
OSWALD TIMOTHY EDWARD
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Management, UiTM Johor