United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization or FAO and the World Union of Wholesale Markets on Thursday signed a partnership to boost urban food security and reduce food waste estimated at 1.3 billion tones every year.
FAO’s Agro-Industry Division head Eugenia Serova in Budapest, Hungary says more efficient wholesale markets and overall urban market outlets can result in more affordable means to reach the city poor with healthy food.
She says if close to 90 percent of the expected increase in the global urban population in the next two decades will take place in cities in Africa and Asia; it makes much sense to build solid knowledge on how to strengthen urban market systems.
Ms Serova says the partnership with the wholesalers aimed to promote sustainability and inclusiveness in the wholesale sector, including developing ‘best practices’ for reducing food waste.
FAO says roughly one third of the food produced globally for human consumption every year is lost or wasted and that the losses are increasingly concentrated in cities.