By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: Former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt on Friday said the wastage of agricultural products and food is increasing in Pakistan at a time when forty percent of the population is not getting enough to feed themselves.
Pakistan is facing a food security crisis and there is little room for incompetence, mismanagement and corruption in this critical sector, he said.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said that Pakistan is included in the top ten producers of wheat, rice, sugarcane and other products but masses are struggling to put food on the table.
He said that 36 million tonnes of food is wasted in Pakistan on an annual basis which is enough to reduce poverty and bring an end to food insecurity.
The loss of food items starts from the field and continues to transport, storage and kitchens, he said.
According to a report, government departments linked to food in Pakistan are also incurring a loss of Rs200 billion annually in procurement and storage of agricultural commodities, which has now increased to Rs913 billion.
In China, 50 million tonnes of food is wasted annually, which could fill the stomachs of 200 million people. Neighbouring India waste Rs 600 billion worth of food annually. According to the UN annually 1.3 billion tonnes of food is being wasted globally which also drain investment in labour, water, fertilizers, seeds, pesticides and energy.
New data indicate that the contribution of food wastage of approximately 10% of all greenhouse gasses emissions which is equivalent to nearly twice the annual emissions produced by all the cars driven in the US and Europe.
