Professor Marian Asantewah Nkansah, an Environmental Chemist, said Ghana’s food waste problem exceeds global trends, despite millions of people facing the risk of hunger.
At the commemoration of the World Health Day, organised by the Communication Initiatives for Change (CIC), a not-for-profit organisation, she said the global per capita food waste was estimated at 74 kilogrammes per year.
While in Ghana, it stands at 84 kilogrammes, highlighting the growing concern within the country.
The event, on the theme: “Managing Food Waste to Save the Environment,” underscored the importance of sustainable food practices, including the adoption of ‘Meatless Mondays.’
Prof Nkansah said although hunger was a significant issue in Ghana, with experts indicating that 3.6 million people are at risk, 320 metric tonnes of edible food were wasted annually.
She pointed out that restaurants and schools contributed 40 per cent of the country’s waste, emphasising the inadequate food management systems within those institutions.
Initial studies conducted by experts across 49 restaurants in the Ashanti Region revealed that 2.89 kilogrammes of food waste were generated annually, Prof Nkansah said.
She noted that those national food waste statistics presented a profoundly worrying situation.
She said policymakers and stakeholders must be concerned about the emerging national problem of food waste, given its far-reaching effects on the environment and the country’s climate change mitigation efforts.
Prof Nkansah explained that food waste in landfill sites also produced greenhouse gases, thereby contributing to climate change.
She recommended that policymakers must implement a set of practices and principles that would reform food production, distribution, and consumption.
She called for minimising food waste, maximising resource efficiency, and ensuring the repeated and effective use of food products and resources.
Mr Emmanuel Fiagbey, the Executive Director of CIC, highlighted the relevance of sustainable foods to the environment.
He said adopting sustainable food was key in addressing environmental concerns, particularly the declining biodiversity, land degradation, atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions, water shortage, and pollution.
GNA
