7 months ago
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On September 29, the satellite observes the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW), which volition gully attraction to a soundless situation that undermines some nutrient and clime security. Globally, astir one-third of each nutrient produced is either mislaid oregon wasted.
As 1 of the world’s largest nutrient producers, India is not immune to this challenge, facing important post-harvest losses crossed aggregate sectors. A survey successful 2022 by NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS) — a subsidiary of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) — commissioned by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), showed that specified losses stay alarmingly precocious passim the cultivation spectrum.
The economical toll is staggering. Post-harvest losses are estimated to outgo India astir ₹1.5 trillion annually — astir 3.7% of cultivation GDP. Fruits and vegetables are the astir vulnerable, with losses reaching 10%-15%, portion adjacent staples specified arsenic paddy (4.8%) and wheat (4.2%) acquisition important wastage. Each tonne of nutrient mislaid represents not lone foregone nutrition but besides wasted water, vigor and labour — astatine a clip erstwhile ecosystems are nether unit and the clime situation is deepening. Scaled to India’s immense accumulation volumes, these percentages magnitude to millions of tonnes of nutrient mislaid each year, with superior consequences for husbandman incomes, nationalist nutrient availability, biology sustainability and clime stability.
Food nonaccomplishment impacts alteration crossed crops, worth chains and regions. Identifying wherever losses hap and quantifying their greenhouse state (GHG) emissions is captious for targeted interventions. Addressing these inefficiencies is not lone important for ensuring nutrient information but besides cardinal to India’s clime commitments.
The clime connection
In effect to this challenge, the Government of India has conducted 3 rounds of nationwide post-harvest surveys crossed much than 50 crops, generating invaluable insights into value-chain losses astatine a planetary scale. The inclusion of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 12.3.1 (Global Food Loss and Waste) successful the National Indicator Framework further strengthens accountability by enabling systematic monitoring and alignment with planetary targets, portion expanding the cognition basal for nutrient systems transformation.
Building connected this foundation, a caller collaborative survey by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), with enactment from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), provides the archetypal elaborate sector-, state-, and operation-wise estimates of greenhouse state (GHG) emissions from post-harvest nonaccomplishment and retail discarded successful India. The survey covered 30 crops and livestock products.
The findings are striking. Even humble percent losses successful cereals, peculiarly paddy, construe into much than 10 cardinal tonnes of c dioxide (CO2)-equivalent emissions annually, owing to the precocious methane strength of rice. Losses of livestock products are arsenic damaging due to the fact that of their dense assets footprint. In total, nutrient nonaccomplishment from these 30 commodities generates implicit 33 cardinal tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions each twelvemonth — a preventable load that could beryllium reduced done much businesslike and resilient nutrient systems.
The survey shows that successful India, astir losses hap aboriginal successful the proviso concatenation — during handling, processing, and organisation — dissimilar high-income countries wherever they are consumer-driven. This highlights India’s halfway situation of gaps successful infrastructure, constricted exertion usage and fragmented proviso chains.
Practical solutions
The standard of India’s nutrient nonaccomplishment situation is daunting, but solutions are good wrong reach. A multi-pronged attack that leverages technology, partnerships, backstage assemblage commitments, and a displacement to a circular system tin thrust existent change.
Food nonaccomplishment mostly stems from anemic infrastructure. Strengthening acold chains, from pre-cooling to refrigerated transport and modern storage, is captious for perishables specified arsenic fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat. Programmes specified arsenic Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) are already moving to modernise this backbone of nutrient logistics (SAMPADA is Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters which was subsequently renamed PMKSY).
Alongside large infrastructure, affordable technologies are key. Solar acold storage, low-cost cooling chambers, crates for perishables and moisture-proof silos for grains tin assistance smallholders chopped spoilage significantly.
Digital tools specified arsenic IoT sensors and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven forecasting tin amended storage, transport and distribution, removing bottlenecks and cutting losses. The FAO Food Loss App (FLAPP), launched successful 2023, allows farmers, organisations and governments to way losses crossed the worth chain. It is utilized successful much than 30 countries.
At the retail end, surplus nutrient tin beryllium redirected to nutrient banks and assemblage kitchens, portion unavoidable discarded tin beryllium converted into compost, feed, oregon bioenergy. Scaling these circular solutions requires beardown argumentation support, including subsidies, recognition guarantees and low-interest loans.
A shared responsibility
Food nonaccomplishment spans the full proviso chain, demanding shared responsibility. Governments indispensable integrate nonaccomplishment simplification into clime strategies and put successful resilient infrastructure, portion businesses follow circular models and standard innovations. Civil nine and academia tin thrust probe and awareness, and consumers tin chopped discarded done mindful choices and enactment for redistribution.
The observance of IDAFLW is much than symbolic. It is simply a telephone to action. The situation is immense, but truthful is the reward. Saving nutrient means redeeming the climate, conserving resources, and protecting livelihoods. An bare sheet should symbolise a repast enjoyed, not resources squandered.
Takayuki Hagiwara is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Representative successful India
