Today an estimated one-third of all the food produced in the world goes to waste, that equal to about 1.3 billion tonnes of fruit, vegetable, meat, diary, seafood, grain that never leave the farm, get lost,  or spoiled during distribution, or are thrown away in hotels, grocery stores, restaurants, schools, or home kitchens.

A fresh report of the United Nations regarding food wastage has revealed that food wastage in Nigeria per citizen is the highest in Africa. According to statistics report, a Nigerian trashes at least 189 kilogrammes of food every year, amounting to a total of 37.9 million (37,941,470) tonnes of food every 12 months.

 Food waste isn't just a social concern it is an environmental one cause when we waste food, we also waste all the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it. And if food goes to the landfill and rots, it produces methane(a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide). About 6%-8% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced if we stop wasting food.

CAUSES OF FOOD WASTE

1. Food gets lost when production exceeds demand.

2. Premature harvesting of crops.

3. Poor storage facilities

4. Purchase and preparation of too much food.

5. Lack of appropriate Planning e.g food time table

6. Over - preparation of food in restaurants, hotels, and food service industry.

7. Over merchandising and over ordering in food stores and supermarket.

CALL TO ACTION ON FOOD WASTE

1. Reduce your personal food waste, the change should start from you.

2. Take part in food waste challenges both online and offline, this will help you take obvious steps, and also be conscious of how you waste food.

3. Start a food waste campaign in your community Explain to one neighbour per day and in 365 days, 365 neighbours are aware and they are also creating awareness to whosoever they come in contact with.

4. Plan your meals instead of buying whatever you see on the shelves and stalls, try to buy only what you eat and eat what you buy.

5. start composting even as low as your peels(orange peel, onion peels) should be composted.

6.  You can have a food bank when you noticed you have food in excess, and might go into waste, don't hesitate to share it in the neighborhood.

7. Volunteer and organize small farmers together to sensitize them on how to prevent food waste when farming or harvesting.