Dwindling Agricultural output and 40 Million+ Kenyans to feed

Addressing food insecurity in Kenya through seed quality assurance

Njenga Hakeenah

November 15 2013

Since the discovery of the Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease MLND in Kenya in the year 2011, efforts to manage it have been in high gear.

This is to ensure that the country does not suffer food insecurity where maize is the staple food.

The Constitution of Kenya declares access to food as one of the basic Human Rights thus underscoring the importance of seeds and agricultural productivity.

Agriculture, livestock and fisheries Cabinet secretary Felix Koskei says globalisation and creation of trade and marketing blocks has expanded the market. Due to this, he says, Kenya envisions becoming “a globally competitive, prosperous country with a high quality of life for all its citizens” by the year 2030, as spelt out in the latest development blueprint: The Kenya Vision 2030.

He adds, “This should serve to encourage collaborators and the private sector to participate in the agricultural industry. This can be attested by the harmonization of seed policies, laws and regulations that have been going on in the EAC, ASARECA, and COMESA which are now in the implementation stage.”

Koskei says this will greatly influence the faster and efficient movement of seed in the region, hence access by the farmer challenging the Seed industry to take up the challenge and satisfy the market needs.

The Kenya Government has established-with funds from the Syngenta and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations established the Naivasha Maize Lethal Necrosis Screening facility.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center CIMMYT's Dr George Mahuku says MLND  affects seed production which in turn affects food security.

Dr. George Mahuku explains the MLND to seed trade stakeholders
at the Marula Farm Test Site in Naivasha Photo: Njenga Hakeenah

“If seed quality is compromised, all other inputs will not help much as the source of crop life is not completely viable to give quality life”, adds Dr. Mahuku. This in turn he says, compromises productivity affecting yields as well as probably contaminating future crops if the seeds are harvested and used later.

In a country where biotechnology is frowned upon and treated with scepticism, Dr. Mahuku opines that it could be the solution to managing MNLD as genetics could play a key role towards this end. He also advocates crop rotation and using clean seeds.

Kenya’s reliance on maize has threatened other food crops-mostly referred to as orphan crops- making it hard to address food insecurity.

Dr James Nyoro, an agronomist says of the overreliance on maize, “When there's no maize, Kenyans say there's no food even when there's a lot of yam.” Nyoro adds Kenyans need to move away from this mentality and adopt other crops for food if they are to avoid the perennial food shortages and in many cases droughts.

Orphan crops like sorghum, millet and others have for long been sidelined from meal tables which gave maize an edge but risking the country’s food security.

“The country needs to diversify if it is to comfortably feed the burgeoning population. Otherwise if we stick with the same old policies and structures, this will remain a dream for a country aiming to be a middle income country by 2030.” Nyoro quips.

The adoption of several food crop varieties would give Kenya an advantage in feeding the burgeoning population. The government is in the meantime mulling a two child per family policy in a bid to slow down population growth.

With this growth and speaking at a time when the country has experienced huge losses occasioned by the MLN disease, Dr. Nyoro opines that policies should also be put in place and implemented especially surrounding seeds whose quality determines the harvest outcomes.

He opines that Kenya's seed industry is dominated by one company and which is a threat to food security. He adds that the company had access to publicly developed materials and continually receives subsidies from government so it can offer seed prices at subsidized levels. However this lack of a level playing field has occasioned high costs but low quality seeds risking food insecurity.

The newly commissioned Maize Lethal Necrosis Screening facility in
Naivasha Photo: Njenga Hakeenah 

Kenya’s vision 2030 is heavily premised on the success of ICT and agriculture which remains the single biggest employer at 24% of the GDP.

Syngenta East Africa’s MD Walter Njenga says food demand is on an increase and it’s challenged by low productivity. He says technology can play a major role in ensuring that Kenya becomes food sufficient. This is echoed by the Kenya seed Trade Association of Kenya STAK’s Chair Azariah Soi who intimates that adopting innovative technologies will increase agricultural productivity placing Kenya in an advantage position to deal with food insecurity.

Storify link: http://storify.com/Hakeenah/stakcongress

The issue of biotechnology and especially around genetically modified organisms GMO remains shrouded in mystery in Kenya. Those against GMOs fear that the foods will be a threat to health and also to indigenous farming. Those who are pro-GMO say that the fears are unfounded and this means will keep experiencing the perennial food shortages. They say that biotechnology should be used to augment agricultural output.

Wanjiru Kamau from the Kenya Organic Agricultural Network says it is better to continue with conventional and traditional farming rather than introduce a technology which may prove fatal in the future.

As an organic farmer she feels investing in GMOs would be a risk and a gamble with the future food security issues.

http://www.mixcloud.com/Hakeenah/do-not-outsource-africas-food-security/

And as this tug of war between those pro and con Biotechnology continues, the country is losing billions invested in research as well as unnecessary deaths due to lack of food.

If this continues, then it means that the country's ambition of attaining food security and the Blueprint Vision 2030 remains a mirage.

Malaria Vaccine Candidate Possible as Early as 2015

Malaria a significant public health burden, claiming 660,000 lives a year - mostly children in sub-Saharan Africa

Malaria kills approximately 660,000 people per year in Kenya.

Around the world, it causes illness in hundreds of millions more, most of them children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa.

Malaria Endemic Areas    Source: CDC

Results from a large-scale Phase III trial, presented today in Durban, show that the most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate, RTS,S, continued to protect young children and infants from clinical malaria up to 18 months after vaccination.

RTS,S is a scientific name given to this malaria vaccine candidate and represents the composition of this vaccine candidate and aims to trigger the immune system to defend against the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite when it first enters the human host’s bloodstream and/or when the parasite infects liver cells. It is designed to prevent the parasite from infecting, maturing, and multiplying in the liver, after which time the parasite would re-enter the bloodstream and infect red blood cells, leading to disease symptoms.

Based on these data, GSK now intends to submit, in 2014, a regulatory application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that a policy recommendation for the RTS,S malaria vaccine candidate is possible as early as 2015 if it is granted a positive scientific opinion by EMA.

Uncertain Future for African Elephants

Enhanced Law Enforcement, International Collaboration and Reducing Demand Required to Avert Crises

By Njenga Hakeenah

March 6, 2013

KWS Deputy Director in Charge of Biodiversity Research Dr. Samuel Kasiki (left) receives the Award from CITES Secretary General John Scanlon on behalf of 13 KWS rangers, who died in the line of duty. Photo: KWS

Elephant populations in Africa are in a continual severe threat as the illegal ivory trade proliferates.

Double the numbers of elephants have been killed and triple the amounts of ivory seized over the last decade. 

A new UN report entitled “Elephants in the Dust – The African Elephant Crisis” says increasing poaching levels, as well as loss of habitat are threatening the survival of African elephant populations in Central Africa as well as previously secure populations in West, Southern and Eastern Africa.

The report - produced by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network (TRAFFIC) - says that systematic monitoring of large-scale seizures of ivory destined for Asia is indicative of the involvement of criminal networks, which are increasingly active and entrenched in the trafficking of ivory between Africa and Asia. 

At sites monitored through the CITES-led Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme alone, which hold approximately 40 per cent of the total elephant population in Africa, an estimated 17,000 elephants were illegally killed in 2011. Initial 2012 data shows that the situation did not improve that year. However, overall figures may be much higher. 

These threats compound the most important long-term threat to the species’ survival – increasing loss of habitat as a result of rapid human population growth and large-scale land conversion for agriculture, providing for international markets. 

UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner says, "CITES must re-engage on illegal wildlife crime with a renewed sense of purpose, commitment, creativity, cooperation  and energy involving range states and transit countries to consuming nations of products such as ivory." 

He adds, "The surge in the killing of elephants in Africa and the illegal taking of other listed species globally threatens not only wildlife populations but the livelihoods of millions who depend on tourism for a living and the lives of those wardens and wildlife staff who are attempting to stem the illegal tide". 

John Scanlon, Secretary-General of CITES, “This report provides clear evidence that adequate human and financial resources, the sharing of know-how, raising public awareness in consumer countries, and strong law enforcement must all be in place if we are to curb the disturbing rise in poaching and illegal trade.” 

The report recommends critical actions, including improved law-enforcement across the entire illegal ivory supply chain and strengthened national legislative frameworks. Training of enforcement officers in the use of tracking, intelligence networks and innovative techniques, such as forensic analysis, is urgently needed. 
  
“Urgent action is needed to address the growing challenges elephant populations are facing, but it will only happen if there is adequate political will to do so,” said Dr Holly Dublin, Chair of the IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group. 

Better international collaboration across range states, transit countries and consumer markets - through the UN Office for Drugs and Crime, CITES, INTERPOL, the World Customs Organization, the World Bank and other international actors – is needed in order to enhance law enforcement - from the field to the judiciary - to deter criminal activities and combat illegal trade.   

These efforts include the need to fight collusive corruption, identifying syndicates and reducing demand. 

TRAFFIC’s ivory trade expert Tom Milliken said: “Organized criminal networks are cashing in on the elephant poaching crisis, trafficking ivory in unprecedented volumes and operating with relative impunity and with little fear of prosecution”. 

Elephants are also threatened by the increasing loss of habitat in around 29 per cent of their range as a result of rapid human population growth and agricultural expansions. 

Currently, some models suggest this figure may increase to 63 per cent by 2050, a major additional threat to the survival of the elephant in the long-term. 

Other key findings: 

Other key finding in the report indicate that large-scale seizures of ivory destined for Asia have more than doubled since 2009 and reached an all-time high in 2011. Also noted are large movements of ivory that comprise the tusks of hundreds of elephants in a single shipment indicating the increasing active grip of highly organized criminal networks on Africa’s illicit ivory trade. 

These largely Asian-run, African-based criminal networks operate with relative impunity as there is almost no evidence of successful arrests, prosecutions or convictions. 

Globally, illegal ivory trade activity has more than doubled since 2007, and is now over three times larger than it was in 1998. The prevalence of unregulated domestic ivory markets in many African cities, coupled with the growing number of Asian nationals residing in Africa also facilitates the illegal trade in ivory out of Africa. 

In 2011, poaching levels were at their highest since MIKE began monitoring the trends in illegal killing in 2001, and indications suggest that the situation did not improve in 2012. 

Poaching is spreading primarily as a result of weak governance and rising demand for illegal ivory in the rapidly growing economies of Asia, particularly China, which is the world’s largest destination markets. The high levels of poaching are, in some cases, facilitated by conflicts that, through lawlessness and ensuing abundance of small arms, provide optimal conditions for the illegal killing of elephants. 

The report was released in Bangkok, at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CITES convention - combines information from sources including the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) African Elephant Specialist Group, MIKE and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), managed by TRAFFIC on behalf of CITES. 

The threat to the elephant population additional reads:

New York Times:           Gabon Elephant Poaching

Kenyans take up arms to protect wildlife

And at the ongoing CITES conference, 13 Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers killed in the line of duty have been posthumously honoured.

They were awarded with the Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award with nine other recipients from around the world.

KWS Deputy Director in charge of Biodiversity, Research and Monitoring Dr. Samuel Kasiki received the award on behalf of the departed heroes.

Stop Ivory Trade     Photo: Stephff Tribal Art

This year’s recipients included Ranger Mohamed Osman Abdi, Ranger Bernard Mwakio, Cpl Adan Sheikh Mohamed, Ranger Seneu Ole Narankaik, Ranger Daniel Njagi, Pilot/Capt. Moses Lelesit, Ranger Gabriel Mghalu Malemba, Ranger Haron Kipyegon Langa, Cpl Koyati Parsaip, Sgt Bake Alio Adan, Ranger Florence Hadia Abae, Ranger Francis Otieno Ochieng, and Cpl Dismas Kimtai.

Ranger Florence Hadia Abae was the first KWS female ranger to be killed in the line of duty. She was killed alongside a male colleague while patrolling one of the Taita ranches last March.

The two AK 101 rifles, three magazines and 20 rounds of ammunitions that were stolen from them were recovered last month buried in a bush at Kiziki area near Bombi village in Malindi County following a tip off from members of the public. Three magazines and 20 rounds of ammunitions were also recovered. Earlier engagements with local elders in Bangale village in Tana River County yielded to the surrender of the second rifle and an empty magazine in January 4, 2013.

In 2007, Mr Samson Ole Sisina a KWS ranger, who was killed while on an undercover operation against illegal game meat trade in Naivasha was among eight other people honoured with the Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award at CITES conference held in The Hague for “fighting wildlife crime with diligence, professionalism, trust and integrity, and in remembrance of his ultimate sacrifice in protecting the wildlife of Kenya”.

The Bavin Award, named after a former chief of the law enforcement division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, recognizes accomplishments in combating wildlife crime involving species protected under the CITES treaty. It is presented during the Conference of the Parties (CoP) to deserving recipients working in the field of wildlife law enforcement across the globe. It is sponsored by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), under the umbrella of Species Survival Network (SSN), an international coalition of over 80 non-governmental organizations, including AWI.

The meeting ends on March 14.

The Pachyderm Annihilation 2

Taking action

By Njenga Hakeenah

23^rd February 2013

Kenya loses at least one elephant daily to poaching and over 365 elephants annually.

A rotting elephant carcass    

Photo: KUOPA/Sheldrick Trust

 

Current data shows that the current demand for ivory exceeds any possible supply of elephants, and that demand must reduce if elephants are to survive.

By 2011, illegal killing of elephants was nearly triple that of the 1990s. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the founder of Save the Elephants, said that while in terms of sheer numbers killed the 1970s and 1980s was worse, the situation today is a "very big crisis" and in "other ways it is much worse."

Kenya’s wildlife which is the largest foreign exchange earner is under threat!

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) affirms that the security of the Elephants is under threat as there has been a gradual escalation in their poaching since 2005. This is due to market dynamics influenced by escalation in the black market prices driven by demand in the Asian countries.

Over 80% of Kenya’s elephants populations are outside protected areas – national parks and reserves. The critical Kenya’s elephant range areas are the northern coast; the Tsavo-Chyulu-Amboseli-Kilimanjaro ecosystem; the Aberdare-Mt. Kenya-Laikipia-Samburu-Northern Area ecosystem; the Nguruman-Mara-Serengeti ecosystem and the Nasolot-Romoi-Kerio Valley ecosystem. The loss of over 80% elephants has been due primarily to killing for ivory; natural habitat loss and human population has tripled reduction in elephant range since 1970.

KWS says that of all the elephant poaching cases in year 2012, 300 elephants, (representing 78% of poaching cases) were poached in wildlife dispersal areas outside the parks with 22% of poaching occurring in protected areas. 12 rhinos were poached outside protected areas (representing 63% of all poaching cases) while seven rhinos were poached in the National Parks.

Kenya remains an important conduit to international destinations for illicit consignments of wildlife products and particularly ivory.

Some of the ivory seized in Kenya was on transit from Angola, South Sudan, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo among others. Destinations for the ivory contraband include China, Nigeria, Malaysia and Thailand. Ivory is being poached in every part of the continent and political instability in most of the countries is fuelling it.

A rotting elephant carcass    

Photo: KUOPA/Sheldrick Trust

In June 2012, 345 pieces of elephant ivory weighing 601 kg stuffed in six wooden boxes were intercepted at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. The contraband was being smuggled to Lagos, Nigeria.

In September 2012, another consignment of 62 pieces of raw elephant ivory weighing 255 kg was seized at the same Nairobi airport. The contraband, whose origins are yet to be established, was en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

On 15th January 2013, a 20 feet container suspected of containing ivory was subjected to verification and it turned out that it was containing elephant ivory wrapped in bundles of gunny bags and concealed by layers of slabs of local stones commonly known as Mazeras stones.

These seizures confirm what has already been established as a link to rob not only Kenya but Africa of its natural resources.

A kilogram of ivory retails for as much as $ 2,000 in the Far East and in Kenya it fetches between Ksh 12,000-18,000 (approx. $ 140-210). A big bull carrying 100 kg of ivory would bring in the equivalent of 1.5 years’ salary of a wildlife ranger or 15 years’ salary for the worker. The Kenya Elephant Forum KEF says the incentive to poach is enormous. The large seizures of ivory at the port of Mombasa illustrate the scale of the problem and if this trend continues, the national elephant population may decline considerably, given the current mortality rate of 4% compared to a growth rate of 2% in 2011.

The Wildlife Ministry Permanent Secretary Hyslop Ipu has assured that the law governing wildlife will be amended to give deterrent sentences. However, a lot more needs to be done to ensure that the problem is nicked in the bud. There’s been talk of complacency and compromised KWS staff which could have worsened poaching.

KWS Director William Kiprono says they are recruiting 1,000 rangers to deal with poaching in national parks and private sanctuaries.

He said the rangers will be recruited in two phases starting in July this year while the rest will be employed next year.

Kiprono notes that shortage of rangers and inadequate funding had been frustrating the war against poaching among other wildlife related crimes.

The government is also planning to conduct a major head count of Kenya’s endangered wildlife in the wake of increased poaching in the country.

Head of Civil Service Francis Kimemia said the audit will be conducted by a multi-stakeholder team that will also include the private sector.

He said a team comprising members from the intelligence service and the police, and KWS rangers will be set up to patrol all national parks and ensure that the menace is dealt with once and for all.

KEF has requested for a Commission of Inquiry into poaching of elephants and rhinos with an expanded mandate to investigate individuals suspected of colluding in poaching and ivory trafficking, examine the long chain of companies involved in the transport, warehousing, clearing and shipping of containers found to be carrying ivory and but not limited to the quantification of the social and economic impact of elephant poaching and trafficking of ivory in Kenya. This includes the cost of insecurity and resulting loss of life and livelihoods as well as loss of their heritage.

A rotting elephant carcass    

Photo: KUOPA/Sheldrick Trust

The multi-stakeholder KEF also called for a review of penalties and making necessary adjustments to adequately punish Wildlife Criminals and the recognition that the wildlife of Kenya belongs to the people of Kenya and that they have the right to participate in its protection.

Former Kenya Wildlife Service Director Nehemiah Rotich says that the losses occasioned by poaching have negative effects beyond the tourism industry and affects 5 Kenyans not directly employed in the sector.

He adds that blame should not be pegged on under-staffing and equipping alone but on making everyone accountable.

A 484 km walk inspired by the late Michael Werikhe, the Rhino Man appealed globally to friends and organizations who care about elephants conservation to raise awareness and funds to establish and support Community-based Elephant Monitoring Programs (CEMP) in the following areas; Loita-Koromoto in Maasai Mara (Serengeti), Amboseli-Namanga( Kilimanjaro), Kora Bisinadi and Tsavo larger ecosystem in collaboration with the local communities.

The walk was flagged off on the February 9th 20313 at the Nakumatt Likoni by Jim Nyamu- founder of Elephant Neighbors Center and a research scientist- and ends at the Tree Centre, Nairobi Arboretum grounds on Saturday 23rd February 2013.

The campaign is a collaboration partnership between Governments, the Private Sector, and NGOs. It has collected over 10,000 petitions that will culminate in a unified message from Kenya to the world.

The petitions will be delivered to the 177 governments meeting in Bangkok from March 3-14 for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to begin "a formal procedure that would lead to a total ban of the ivory trade."

A little more…

Ministers Dine on 'Not So Cosmetic' Food in Kenya

By Njenga Hakeenah

A dinner setting in a Qatari Restaurant   Photo: Njenga Hakeenah

February 20^th  2013

Time check: 1900Hrs

Location: UNEP, Gigiri, Nairobi

Event: Dinner

A little more…

This brings to mind an advert on Kenyan TV a few years ago where the child would not have enough due to the deliciously made meal.

Those are the long gone memories and days.

Today however, food which is in every way healthy to consume is binned for not meeting cosmetic standards contributing to billions of tonnes of food being thrown away in the world today.

Despite the rising costs of producing the food and the ever increasing number of food needy people, this has continued unabated in the world today.

However, in what could mark a turnaround to this wastage, hundreds of ministers and high-level officials dined on perfectly good food grown by Kenyan farmers but rejected by UK supermarkets. The reason for this trashing of otherwise good food is due to due to cosmetic imperfections. 

British standards are extremely high!

This happened at the headquarters of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi to highlight a major campaign to cut massive levels of global food loss and waste. 
 
The zero-waste reception, taking place during a meeting of the first UNEP Governing Council under universal membership, was in support of Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint . The initiative was launched in January by UNEP, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and partners such as Feeding the 5,000 and Messe Dusseldorf. 

An African meal comprising of mashed potatoes, chicken and vegetables
Photo: Njenga Hakeenah

The campaign aims to promote actions by consumers and food retailers to dramatically cut the 1.3 billion tonnes of food lost or wasted each year – which aside from the cost implications and environmental impacts increases pressure on the already straining global food system – and help shape a sustainable future. 

UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner says, “No economic, environmental or ethical argument can be made to justify the extent of food waste and loss currently happening in the world, and at UNEP we practice what we preach”. He added, “With this dinner we are demonstrating to retailers, consumers and policymakers who can push for change that the astonishing amount of food we throw away is not just edible and nutritious, but also delicious.” 

Tristram Stuart, food waste author and founder of Feeding the 5000, a key partner organization that has organized such dinners for years, visited producers across Kenya to source around 1,600 kilogrammes of unwanted fruit and vegetables for the meal and for donation to local charities. 

The food had been grown for the export market only to be rejected – largely due to stringent standards over appearance or orders being changed after vegetables had been harvested.

Some of this unwanted produce is sold on the local market or donated, but the quantities are so large that local markets cannot handle the volume and so much of it is either left to rot or fed to livestock – prompting resentment amongst Kenyan farmers who must bear the costs themselves. 

“It’s a scandal that so much food is wasted in a country with millions of hungry people; we found one grower supplying a UK supermarket who is forced to waste up to 40 tonnes of vegetables every week, which is 40 per cent of what he grows,” said Mr. Stuart. “The waste of perfectly edible ‘ugly’ vegetables is endemic in our food production systems and symbolizes our negligence.” 

“But it is also a huge opportunity: by persuading supermarkets to change their standards, and by developing processing and other ways of marketing this produce, we can help to increase on-farm incomes and food availability where it is needed most,” he added. “This dinner, and the many Feeding the 5000 events we have run, aims to change attitudes and highlight best practices, by showing that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this food we so casually discard.” 

While UK supermarkets are in the frame here in Kenya, experts believe that similar practises are happening in respect to supermarkets in many parts of the developed, and increasingly in parts of the developing, world. 

Chef Ray Cournede, from Nairobi’s prestigious Windsor Hotel, utilized the rescued food to cook a five-course meal that included such delights as Grilled Sweet Corn Tamales, Yellow Lentil Dal with Tamarind and Mangomisu – Tiramisu with a tropical twist. Mr. Cournede also prepared mango chutney and candied fruit peels, which show ways to preserve and use fruits when in season. 

The dinner was a zero-waste event: guests were encouraged to doggy bag leftovers and many of the fruits and vegetables were donated to MCEDO, a community-based organization that runs a school with a feeding programme for 580 children in Nairobi’s Mathare informal settlement. 

The Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint campaign is in support of the SAVE FOOD Initiative to reduce food loss and waste along the entire chain of food production and consumption.

A bowl of dessert Photo: Njenga Hakeenah

Worldwide, at least one-third of all food produced, worth around US$1 trillion, gets lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems, according to data released by FAO. Food loss occurs mostly at the production stages – harvesting, processing and distribution – while food waste typically takes place at the retailer and consumer end of the food-supply chain. 

According to FAO roughly 95 per cent of food loss and waste in developing countries are unintentional losses at early stages of the food supply chain due to financial, managerial and technical limitations in harvesting techniques; storage and cooling facilities in difficult climatic conditions; infrastructure; packaging and marketing systems. 

However, in the developed world the end of the chain is far more significant. At the food manufacturing and retail level in the developed world, large quantities of food are wasted due to inefficient practices, quality standards that over-emphasize appearance, confusion over date labels and consumers being quick to throw away edible food due to over-buying, inappropriate storage and preparing meals that are too large. 

Per-capita waste by consumers is between 95 and 115 kg a year in Europe and North America/Oceania, while consumers in sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-eastern Asia each throw away only 6 to 11 kg a year. 

“Together, we can reverse this unacceptable trend and improve lives. In industrialized regions, almost half of the total food squandered, around 300 million tonnes annually, occurs because producers, retailers and consumers discard food that is still fit for consumption,” said José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General.

He adds, “This is more than the total net food production of Sub-Saharan Africa, and would be sufficient to feed the estimated 870 million people hungry in the world.”