The World Food Program (WFP) has urged government to explore ways of minimizing food waste in the country as one way of ensuring and promoting food security.

This comes as Malawi joined the global community in commemorating the World Food Day on October 16 amid reports that over 1 million people in the country will be food insecure in the 2019/2020 consumption year.

Speaking to YFM, WFP Country Representative, Benoit Thiry said it is unfortunate that Malawi loses 30% of food in form of food waste yet more people are said to be food insecure.

Thiry has since pleaded with government to look into the matter and find means of saving food such as food recycling.

According to the State of Food and Agriculture 2019 report around 14 percent of the world’s food is lost after harvesting and before reaching the retail level, including through on-farm activities, storage and transportation.

The report has shown that losses and waste are generally higher for fruits and vegetables at all stages in the food supply chain.

In lower-income countries, more fresh fruit and vegetable loss is attributed to poor infrastructure than in industrialized countries.

Additional reporting courtesy of fruitnet.com