Bangladeshis annually waste more than one crore tonne of food: UNEP

On average, a Bangladeshi annually wastes 65 kg food at home, according to Food Waste Index Report 2021 by the Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Released on March 4, the report -- designed to support global efforts to halve food waste by 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goals -- estimates Bangladesh's annual food waste is over one crore tonne (1,06,18,233).

The global per capita food waste is estimated at 74 kg a year, which is described in the report as "remarkably similar across the countries, both in lower and higher-income ones". 

At least 93.10 crore tonnes of food are wasted globally every year, which amounts to 17 percent of total food production. 

Out of the total, nearly 57 crore tonnes of food waste, which is 11 percent of global food production, comes from homes, while five percent from food services and two percent from retail establishments, the report states.

In India, the per capita food waste is estimated at 50 kg a year, the lowest in South Asia, but the total annual waste is estimated to be the highest 6,87,60,163 tonnes. 

Pakistan's annual food waste per capita is 74 kg; its total annual waste is 1,59,47,645 tonnes. 

In Sri Lanka, the annual per capita food waste is the highest – 76 kg – but the country's total waste, 16,17,738 tonnes a year, accounts for the lowest in the region.

For Bangladesh, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted studies in Chattagram to prepare the UN estimates.

Only 14 countries, categorised under 'high confidence' data, provided food waste data of restaurants, businesses, production fields, and in the supply chain, other than in homes.