IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

Since 2014, the number of people affected by hunger has been increasing. The United Nations (UN) estimates that 828 million people globally were affected by hunger in 2021. Yet food loss and waste is a cause for concern. Every year, 1,6 billion tonnes of food is wasted across the world of which 1,3 billion tonnes is edible, according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Approximately 13% of food production is lost between harvest and retail, while an estimated 17% of total global food production is wasted in households, food service and retail combined. In South Africa, 10 million tonnes of food go to waste every year. This accounts for a third of the 31 million tonnes that are produced annually in South Africa. To raise awareness around food loss and waste, the United Nation’s General Assembly has designated 29 September as the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW). This year’s IDAFLW was celebrated under the theme “Reducing food loss and waste: Taking action to transform food systems”. This was used as an opportunity to call to action both the public and the private sectors to prioritise actions and move ahead with innovation to reduce food loss and waste towards restoring and building back better and resilient-ready, food systems. Tackling food loss and waste relies on the joint effort of various stakeholders and will lead to food security, sustainability of food systems and reducing greenhouse gases emissions among others This month’s issue of Mbalo Brief is our last for 2023. The next issue will be published in February 2024. This month, the educational article is based on the Census 2022 (statistical release P0301.4), conducted by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) and published on 10 October 2023.

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