Food to feed 16cr for 3 months wasted annually

While pandemic, war and climate extremes are setting alarm bells ringing for a looming food crisis, food waste ending up in landfills is on the rise too. For rich countries, it is a growing climate concern from methane gas. But for developing countries like Bangladesh, the loss and waste of around 1.45 crore tonnes of food annually mean an imminent threat of hunger.   

If not wasted, the food could have been enough to feed 16 crore people for three months, according to Bangladesh statistics bureau and United Nations data.  

There were long-term programmes by the government aimed at cutting the waste from the field to storage to transportation to markets. Post-harvest management was among the key priorities and a pilot project saw some success too.

But not much progress has been made since and food waste continues at a time when the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns about global food shortage, prompting the prime minister herself to alert the people to a possible food crisis.

Despite massive progress, food output cannot keep pace with population increase. Production of staple food grains, paddy and wheat, stood at 3.90 crore tonnes last fiscal year, up 13.36% over the past 11 years. During the period, the country's population growth was 14.66%. 

Besides, a good part of whatever additional food is grown is wasted at multiple stages starting from the field to the table.

According to the breakdown of statistics bureau and the United Nations Environment Programme food waste data, more than 37 lakh tonnes of food is wasted every year during the journey from field to kitchen. The annual food waste at home hovers around 1.07 crore tonnes, as the total annual loss and waste amount to 1.45 tonnes.  

Waste at table more than US, Japan  

The country generated some 65 kilograms of household food waste per capita per year, according to the 2021-Food Waste Index Report by the United Nations Environment Programme, which is significantly higher than many developed countries.    

The food waste is 59kg in the US, 33kg in Russia, 55kg in Ireland, 61kg in New Zealand and 64kg in Japan.  

Every year, the world throws away around 93 crore tonnes of food, and most of it ends up in landfills, according to the United Nations.

The globe pledge to halve food waste by 2030 has almost lost its track as top five biggest food wasters per capita including the United States, Australia and New Zealand saw an increase in food waste since 2015, suggests a Reuters report.

The consequences, however, are more disastrous to middle-income countries like Bangladesh, especially at a time when food inflation is hurting consumers globally, according to agri economist Prof Jahangir Alam Khan.

He said the rate of Bangladesh's household food waste is around 25%. "In villages, a large portion of it is used as feed for livestock. But in urban areas, the waste is thrown in the bin."             

Former Agriculture Secretary Anwar Faruk said the country needs additional 6 lakh tonnes of food to feed 20 lakh more added to the population every year. But the annual staple grains production growth is 2-3 lakh tonnes – widening the food gap per year.      

"It is possible to reduce food waste by 5% with much less effort than to increase production by 5%. If we can do so, we will be able to export rice instead of importing," he noted. 

From field to plate, wasting food everywhere

About 7.33% of the annual yield of paddy, wheat, maize, potato, lentils, mustards, turmeric and chilis is wasted during harvesting and post-threshing stages thanks to typical harvesting methods.

The statistics bureau calculated the loss in 2018 as the crop loss and waste amounted to Tk10,000 crore in that year. 

The bureau noted the post-harvest loss was the highest 8.93% for Aush paddy and the lowest 5.82% for maize.       

Prof Jahangir Alam Khan identified the typical harvesting methods for the loss. He said the recently introduced modern agri machinery like combined harvesters are only being used for paddy and wheat, leaving the other crops for old-fashioned harvesting.

"Agri mechanisation should also cover the other crops. And the government should promote the expansion with initiatives and subsidies," he added. 

According to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, local farmers get less than half of the price of their produce due to inefficient market management, lack of crop diversification, poor transportation and lack of storage.

"About 35%-40% of our produce is wasted on the road and in the market. The cost of spoiled vegetables and fruits are passed on to the consumers keeping the price tags high," Prof Jahangir Alam Khan explained.  

Traders and truck drivers in Dhaka's biggest kitchen market Karwan Bazar said the damages from transportation vary from crop to crop.

For potatoes, the loss during transportation is up to 12kg per 60-kg-sack. For onions, it could be as high as 15kg per maund (one maund equivalent to approx. 40 kg).      

According to the statistics bureau, around 45% of the country's farmers have to use unpaved and dilapidated roads to send their produce to local markets from fields.      

There are 414 private cold storages in the country, and 95% of their total capacity is used to store potatoes. The remaining 5% is for storing fruits and fish, according to the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association.  

After setting up cold storages for onions in the past couple of years, several entrepreneurs have moved out after incurring losses recently.

One such investor, Fazlur Rahman of Rajshahi, said he stopped storing onions this year after incurring losses for two consecutive years.

The food directorate has a total storage capacity of 18 lakh tonnes of rice and wheat in its warehouses across the country. 

As most of the godowns are now fragile and damp inside, foods in those warehouses are being spoiled, the directorate mentioned in the modern storage project proposal.     

The directorate said rodents are also spoiling the food stored in the public facilities. The construction of eight steel silos to solve this problem was not completed even after eight years. Godown renovation has also ended up in a stalemate.

Govt initiatives lack consistency 

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations aim to halve food waste by 2030, along with boosting agri production sustainably.

In line with the SDGs, the 8th Five-Year Plan recommends improvements in harvesting, processing, storing, packaging and transporting crops. 

The masterplan – which was approved and adopted in 2020 – identified shortages in storage, agro-processing and commercialisation, post-harvest management, refrigerated vans and cold storage as major challenges and called for strengthening agro-processing.

But the entire agri supply chain showed no significant changes in the last couple of years. Setting up an agro processing zone in Nilphamari has been discussed since 2016, but field level initiatives are yet to be taken.

An ADB funded project on cultivation of high value crop logged success in 27 districts in the 2010-2017 period. Government assessment shows the project helped farmers' income rise and reduce waste in vegetable cultivation by about 19%.

But the Department of Agricultural Extension discontinued the project after two phases of implementation.

"Since independence, food production has been getting more attention thanks to the country's persistent food gap. Therefore, almost all farming projects were aimed at boosting food production," M Hamidur Rahman, a former director general of the department, told The Business Standard.

He, however, said it is time to increase the production as well as curb food waste since the food gap has narrowed.   

Md Sayedul Islam, secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, said the government is preparing a number of projects to increase storage and processing capacities aiming at cutting food waste. 

For example, he said, "Some storage facilities with a zero-emission cooling system will be developed in the divisional headquarters for vegetables and fruits. Even without electricity, those facilities will be able to store perishables items fresh for three to seven days."

He said the Tk3,020 crore farm mechanisation project will reduce food waste significantly.    

The secretary said farmers often sell their crops at throwaway prices during the harvesting season as they need cash urgently. The government is going to provide them with farming loans so that they can sell the produce later at better rates.

Besides, the ministry is going to launch an agricultural transformation project by March next year to enhance farmers' market access.