Solution to stop food waste in Nigeria is a recurring task for all as about 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted annually, which is the amount accounted for 33 percent of the food produced in the world.

Ironically, about 795 million people are hungry in the world. This lead to the question of why waste food when that which you waste is that which some can kill for? This figure only reflects the situation across all the countries of the world.

In Nigeria, it has been estimated that about 12 million people are hungry. This you will agree with me is an underestimation of the number of hungry people in Nigeria. Looking at all this, coupled with the environmental impact of food wastage such as pollution, it is in our own interest and that of the people around especially the hungry ones to stop food wastage.

CAUSES OF FOOD WASTAGE
The primary reason while food waste in Nigeria is due to the bad nature of our storage and transport facilities. This usually leads to food getting spoilt before reaching its destination in the case of perishable food and food not been able to be saved longer because of the bad storage habit, excessive cooking and buying more than enough.

All this are evils that can be fought so as to stop 33 percent of food produced from wasting.

HOW TO STOP FOOD WASTAGE IN NIGERIA
The best way to stop food from wasting in Nigeria is to provide and educate the farmers with the appropriate skills and tools needed to preserve and store food as this will lead to more food being saved during the harvest season thus, avoiding the excessive wastage that occur during this season.

To further make this effective, good transport facility should be provided so as to give farmers the assurance that they can produce more since their goods can reach their target market without getting spoilt.

It is important on the part of the buyers to plan themselves, know the quantity of food they need for use as a particular period and them buy that amount of food. This will even save the buyer some money while allowing others have access to the food at a reasonable price as opposed to the inflated price due to shortage.

While all talk and shout about recycling, nobody talks about food recycling and reuse in Nigeria and this method can go a long way in stopping food from wasting. Some people only eat meal ones and dispose the remnant.


Why not recycle it into another food, warm it or better still, give it out to the needy. I bet you, a thousand and one persons out there are ever ready to eat what you just dump in the waste bin. An example of food reuse/recycle is fruit remnant been transformed into juice and preserved in fridge for future use. Ingredients can be added to a food to turn it taste into something enticing. In worse case, the food can be used as manure to grow food in your garden.

The government should provide storage facilities such as silos, this will enable food been saved for later use.

In conclusion, if there’s one thing I have always and will always fight against, it is the “not in my backyard attitude”. People don’t see problems as problems simply because it not affecting them and that is a wrong attitude. If we can all join hands together, hunger can be eradicated in Nigeria if not totally, to a larger extent!

Source: http://www.thistrend.com.ng/2017/06/how-to-stop-food-wastage-in-nigeria.html?m=1

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