The WHO's Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, and the UN Environment Program, UNEP, estimate that 811M people are hungry and an additional 132M are threatened by food insecurity, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic.  

FAO points out that for many people on the planet, access to food is taken for granted. But 811 million people go hungry and an additional 132 million suffer from the threats of food insecurity, especially the Covid-19 pandemic.  

While so many people do not have access to food, 14% of the world's food production, valued at 400 billion USD, is lost every year between harvest and trade

The FAO also calculates that every year, 931 million tons of food ends up in the garbage. All the resources that have been used in food production, including water, land use, energy, human labor, and capital, also go to waste.  

The UN agency says it is time to recognize that the value of food goes far beyond its market price, as it has several values associated with it: the value of farmers, natural resources, and the increasing number of people who end up without enough to eat.  

FAO uses the International Day to emphasize the call for more global action to prevent waste. The agency also stresses that innovative and technological solutions need to be considered.  

The event organized by FAO and UNEP will feature messages from ministers from several countries and the presentation of the Food is Never a Waste coalition.

Source: UN News