UN Lauds Egypt’s Projects Aimed at Reducing Food Loss, Waste

The United Nations hailed Egypt’s projects that are aimed at reducing food loss and waste in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization as a part of its celebrations for the first International Day for Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.

Through its official account on Instagram, the sun drying tomato project in El Nubaria was shared, which is being implemented in the context of the project "Food Loss and Waste Reduction and Value Chain Development for Food Security in Egypt” in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Ministries of International Cooperation and Agriculture and Land Reclamation in Egypt.

The UN official website stated that about 14% of the world's food is wasted, and a large percentage of food is lost at various levels of consumption, with the global waste rate reaching about 20%.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFuR-3TBUNB/

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of International Cooperation seeks to relieve COVID-19 effects on agriculture through implementing a number of joint projects with the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization in Egypt to achieve food security, reduce food loss and waste, support small farmers, strengthen value chains, and provide farmers with modern technological tools.

Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania Al-Mashat stressed agriculture is one of the most vital and important sectors for national development, representing 14% of Egypt’s GDP growth, and constituting 28% of job opportunities and 55% of rural employment.

https://twitter.com/FAOstatistics/status/1303994027730243588

As such, the ministry has been keen on putting farmers and their families at the core to equip them with the adequate skills needed to meet the demands of the modern economy.

Currently, there are 13 agricultural projects worth a total of $545.42m being implemented across 27 governorates, which reach 1.5 million women and men and provide 15,000 job opportunities.

Since the start of the pandemic, the ministry organized regular multi-stakeholder platforms to coordinate efforts over food security as well as discussing priority areas and needed support.

Over the past decade, there has been a 40% increase in export revenues in vegetables, which has contributed to the achievement of several SDGs, mainly through providing job opportunities, reducing inequality, and improving livelihoods.