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1. INTRODUCTION

	1.1 Authorisation

		The present report based on "Wastage of food leading to world hunger" was approved and authorized by Dr. Humaid Al Qatami Director of the Dubai Health Authority on 20th April 2017.


	1.2 Historical Background

		Hunger touches every community, every nation, and every region of the world.

	    Worldwide nearly 800 million people do not have enough to eat. That means one in nine people are suffering from hunger.
	    Hunger and malnutrition are the number one risk to health worldwide. Each year the death toll exceeds that of AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.
	    Every year, nearly 3 million children die from hunger-related causes


		Globally, human beings produce enough food waste to feed 3 billion people. Over 30% of the world's food supply is wasted.
		Therefore to eliminate hunger, countries with food deficits at first need to increase their food availability, while countries with food surplus need to improve their food distribution systems.


	1.3 Objectives

		The objectives of the report based on the data obtained through survey are:

			To estimate the number of people affected by hunger and to analyze the global(local) food situation.

			To focus  on  different  aspects  of  the  phenomenon  of  hunger  and different levels of aggregation involved in its study.

			To suggest methods to reduce food wastage to improve global food security and to mitigate world hunger.



	1.4 Scope

		The survey was conducted only in the four metro cities, namely, Dubai,Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman

	1.5 Limitations


 		As mentioned above, collection of data was only confined to four cities.
 		Some MNCs like Walmart and Spinneys do not allow a comprehensive investigation of food wasted at the production level. This made it difficult to collect data at the retail level.
 		Moreover, due to time and budget constraints, some of the data was collected from earlier records.

	1.6 Methods and Sources of data collection
		The present report is based on the information collected from all records found on the internet as well as the library. Surveys were also conducted to extract data regarding wastage of food at the consumer level.

	1.7 Report review


2. DISCUSSION

	2.1 PRODUCTION

		2.1.1 AGRICULTURE

			the main form of food wastage in the food chain about 15%, occurs in the form of fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers followed by fish and seafood at 10%.

			crops subjected to pest infections cause losses before harvest

			Temperature and percipitation are main causes of losses


		2.1.2 HARVEST

			the main form of food wastage in harvest phase is in form of roots and tubers about 10% followed by cereals at 7%

			Use of machinery causes waste as harvestors may be unable to discern between ripe and immature crops or collect only part of a crop

			regulations and standards for quality and appearance also cause food waste. 40% of produced food are discarded becaue they donot look pretty



	2.2 RETAIL

		2.2.1 PROCESSING

			the main form of food wastage in processing phase about 9%, occurs in the form of roots and tubers followed by fruits and vegetables at 5%,

			product packaging gets damaged during shipping which also leads to wastage


		2.2.2 DISTRIBUTION

			the main form of food wastage during distribution about 11%, occurs in the form of fish and seafood followed by meat and diary products at 5%,

			Grocery stores are responsible for tossing 10% of the overall food wasted.

			Overstocking: Grocery stores tend to overstock due to the mentality that customers are more likely to buy products from a full stocked display

			unsold produce -> occupies space in landfills



	2.3 CONSUMER

		the main form of food wastage by the consumers about 15%, occurs in the form of cereal followed by meat and diary products at 7%,

		Consumers are unaware of what expiration dates, sell-buy dates or best buy dates actually mean. They wrongly assume food is no longer good after these days. Fearing that consumers will either not buy the food or think the stores are carrying old products , they pull out the items before the sell-by date.

		consumers judge by the aesthetics of the produce to buy it or not

		In US, an average family of 4 leaves more than 2 million calories worth nearly 1500 uneaten each year

		Availibility of low priced food products and a weakened personnel connection with our food system has resulted in generations of people who dont see wasting food as problem.

		Unconsumed food at restaurants are packed to take away

		food is not recycled, leftovers can be used in preparation of another meal




4. RECOMMENDATIONS

	Food wastage can be curbed at each of the different supply levels in the following ways:

	-At the production level, improving harvesting techniques and storage technologies ensures less food loss.

	-Improving packaging techniques helps to keep food fresher for longer and optimizes portion sizes. Furthermore, facilitating increased donation of unsold goods will lead to consumption of food that would have been thrown away previously. These are two methods that would create an increase in retail of produced food.

	-Individuals must learn to reduce portion sizes and purchase "ugly"/odd-shaped produce in order to reduce food wastage.