The numbers are alarming. In Latin America and the Caribbean, undernourishment affects 42.5 million people, according to FAO data. This represents a little more than the population of Peru, or the sum of all the inhabitants of Bogotá, Caracas, Santiago de Chile and the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires.
The truth is we could think this data is ironic, when almost a quarter of all the meat consumed in the world comes from the region, or when we consider that Brazil is the fourth country producing most of the food globally, after the United States, China and India.
But not all is bad news: between 1990 and 2014, the region managed to reduce the percentage of its population in famine by 60 percent, a goal that was unattainable for the rest of the world. By 2015, Latin America and the Caribbean was the only region in the world that managed to halve the percentage of people suffering from hunger, one of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations.
Now, if Latin America is a region of great potential for the production of grains, livestock, fisheries and agricultural resources, why are more than 127 million tons wasted each year? Why is 34 percent of everything produced lost? To put this data in context, it is as if half of all the cereals harvested in the region were lost during 2017, or as if each Latin American would throw 491 pounds of food each year in the trash.
The waste of food is not only at one stage, but in a successive chain of processes. This phenomenon occurs mainly in production, where approximately 28 percent is lost; in handling and storage 21 percent, and in distribution another 17 percent. In homes, the amount of food wasted rises to 28 percent.
For example, vegetables and fruits that do not meet the aesthetic canons of traders, frozen foods that are not properly handled in their cold chain, pests that affect the crops, or just a bad labeling, are some of the reasons that can trigger the unnecessary loss of food suitable for human consumption. Just the waste of the edible products generated in supermarkets and restaurants could feed almost 9 out of 10 Latin Americans who are currently undernourished.
What can we do, then?
Public-private cooperation is fundamental to convert waste into food, and thus help solve one of the development problems that most affects Latin America and the Caribbean. That is why, from the IDB, we partnered with 11 food multinationals, NGOs and international organizations in a pioneering initiative we call #SinDesperdicio. The association groups companies like Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, Dow Chemical, Fundación FEMSA, Grupo Bimbo; also IBM, Oxxo, the FAO, the Global Food Banking Network, the Consumers Good Forum and the World Resources Institute.
This platform, inaugurated in October 2018 during the World Food Day, has four fundamental pillars: innovation, public policy, knowledge and behavioral change. These will seek to change public policies within countries, apply new technologies to reduce food losses, develop studies and analysis, and promote a radical change in the behavior of all the actors in the chain.
The project plan is currently being designed, which will serve as the basis for implementing pilot plans in Mexico, Colombia and Argentina as of February 2019, and which will be exported to other countries in the region until 2021. The projects will work hand in hand together with food banks and companies, as well as in coordination with local and national governments.
Recycled (and edible) food?
Yes we can eat it. And it exists. The recycling of wasted food can also be an efficient alternative to reduce the amount of food that ends up not being consumed.
Initiatives such as producing beer from hard or aged bread, transforming remains of sugarcane into textiles, or selling juices made from flawed fruits—which usually end up in the trash—have propelled the emergence of ventures that are contributing to the economies in countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom.
These industries not only help reduce the amount of food and food wasted, but also boost local economies, create jobs and catalyze the emergence of creative economies.
Do you think it could work in Latin America and the Caribbean? Check out more of #SinDesperdicio and on how we can contribute to reduce food losses in the region here.