Ugandans throw away food...
Oct 19, 2007
CLAD in an old, stained garment, Patrick Aine, 30, regularly moves from home to home collecting garbage for a living. He earns sh1,000 - sh2,000 a day, which cannot guarantee him two meals daily.
By Carol Natukunda
CLAD in an old, stained garment, Patrick Aine, 30, regularly moves from home to home collecting garbage for a living. He earns sh1,000 - sh2,000 a day, which cannot guarantee him two meals daily.
“Someone gives you his dustbin and you find a polythene bag full of mawoolo (left-over food). Do you expect me to spare it when I am not sure of what I will eat in the evening?†he asks.
Aine is not exaggerating. Ugandans waste a lot of food. About 1,500 tonnes of garbage is generated daily in Kampala, of which 74% is food and agriculture waste, according to statistics obtained from Kampala City Council (KCC).
Eng. Maurice Kairamia, KCC’s solid waste management officer, says this includes left-over food, peelings and banana leaves used in cooking. He could not establish how much of this is left-over food.
Eskom, one of the companies contracted to collect garbage in the city, estimates that left-over food is about 4% of the city garbage.
“Most of the food is from the compost pits around town, hotels, restaurants, schools, universities and other big canteens,†the Eskom source says.
Considering that 1,500 tonnes of garbage is generated in the city daily, this implies that about 60 tonnes of left-over food is thrown away in the city every day. This could feed more than 60,000 people in a meal. But the practice of throwing away food is not limited to Kampala. It is countrywide, though statistics do not exist.
Why do we throw away the food?
Part of the problem, is that while the law emphasises food as a human right, it is silent on what penalty to give someone who wastes food.
“People, especially in cities, have money and know they can buy more. While there is no punishment, wasting food is wrong,†reasons Okasaai Opolot, the Commissioner for crop production in the Ministry of Agriculture.
People throw away food for different reasons. For instance corporate lawyer Peter Matsiko, 50, cannot stand badly cooked food.
“Sometimes you go to a hotel or restaurant and the food is burnt, half cooked or has too much salt,†he argues. “Even if it is at home, and the food is prepared badly, you cannot finish it.â€
In rural areas, peasants take food for granted because they have planted it themselves and can always go to the garden to get more. Thus they might under-estimate the value of the food they are throwing away.
However, this may not be the case everywhere. “We have areas of plenty and areas of scarcity. In Mbarara, matooke could go for sh500 yet Karamoja barely has anything,†says Beatrice Anywar, the Woman MP for Kitgum district.
Tom Twinomugisha, a provider of catering services in Kampala, says customers are unpredictable.
“Someone makes an order for 50 people, we prepare the food, 20 people turn up and the food is wasted. Some serve more than they can finish and leave the rest on the plate,†he says.
In schools and tertiary institutions, some students fail to finish their food because of poor quality.
“The beans are full of weevils and the posho is usually yellowish. I think they look for the worst quality,†says Nickson Katende, a student at Luzira Vocational S.S.
Dangers
Throwing away food means it is not being preserved for a rainy day. When anomalies like floods and drought hit, Ugandans are likely to suffer famine, if not crying for the already “spit milk.â€
Way forward
Opolot thinks punishing offenders cannot work, but advocates sensitisation at all levels.
“In other countries, food is considered holy and sacred. We have got to sensitise people and our children. And the media should help us,†he says.
The 2003 Food and Nutrition Policy says food should be treated as a national strategic resource. It calls for the establishment and maintenance of food reserves or funds to be used for staple food purchase at household, sub-county, district, regional and national level, to boost disaster preparedness.
The Food and Agricultural Organisation’s Charles Owach appeals to society to be responsible and respect the right to food.
“The right to access to adequate food should compliment the food security concept. We know that food security may be attained through buying whichever food one is able to buy, or how much they cultivate. But how well can you use the food?†Owach asks.
Opolot also agrees and adds: “If you have cooked a lot of posho, give some to the pigs. For people in towns, you can give it out. There are so many street children and other vulnerable people without anything to eat.â€
What should be done?
- Don’t serve more than you can finish. What you throw away could help someone else.
- If you are considering eating out, tell your maid or the person preparing your meal in advance so that they do not include your share.
- Make sure you confirm time and again with the clients, if you are in the hotel industry. Alternatively, prepare little by little, so that you can prepare fully, after an order has been made.
- Supply extra food to the needy people, instead of leaving it to rot in your store or throwing it away.
- Store food in a clean, dry and safe place to guard against pests and weevils.
CLAD in an old, stained garment, Patrick Aine, 30, regularly moves from home to home collecting garbage for a living. He earns sh1,000 - sh2,000 a day, which cannot guarantee him two meals daily.
“Someone gives you his dustbin and you find a polythene bag full of mawoolo (left-over food). Do you expect me to spare it when I am not sure of what I will eat in the evening?†he asks.
Aine is not exaggerating. Ugandans waste a lot of food. About 1,500 tonnes of garbage is generated daily in Kampala, of which 74% is food and agriculture waste, according to statistics obtained from Kampala City Council (KCC).
Eng. Maurice Kairamia, KCC’s solid waste management officer, says this includes left-over food, peelings and banana leaves used in cooking. He could not establish how much of this is left-over food.
Eskom, one of the companies contracted to collect garbage in the city, estimates that left-over food is about 4% of the city garbage.
“Most of the food is from the compost pits around town, hotels, restaurants, schools, universities and other big canteens,†the Eskom source says.
Considering that 1,500 tonnes of garbage is generated in the city daily, this implies that about 60 tonnes of left-over food is thrown away in the city every day. This could feed more than 60,000 people in a meal. But the practice of throwing away food is not limited to Kampala. It is countrywide, though statistics do not exist.
Why do we throw away the food?
Part of the problem, is that while the law emphasises food as a human right, it is silent on what penalty to give someone who wastes food.
“People, especially in cities, have money and know they can buy more. While there is no punishment, wasting food is wrong,†reasons Okasaai Opolot, the Commissioner for crop production in the Ministry of Agriculture.
People throw away food for different reasons. For instance corporate lawyer Peter Matsiko, 50, cannot stand badly cooked food.
“Sometimes you go to a hotel or restaurant and the food is burnt, half cooked or has too much salt,†he argues. “Even if it is at home, and the food is prepared badly, you cannot finish it.â€
In rural areas, peasants take food for granted because they have planted it themselves and can always go to the garden to get more. Thus they might under-estimate the value of the food they are throwing away.
However, this may not be the case everywhere. “We have areas of plenty and areas of scarcity. In Mbarara, matooke could go for sh500 yet Karamoja barely has anything,†says Beatrice Anywar, the Woman MP for Kitgum district.
Tom Twinomugisha, a provider of catering services in Kampala, says customers are unpredictable.
“Someone makes an order for 50 people, we prepare the food, 20 people turn up and the food is wasted. Some serve more than they can finish and leave the rest on the plate,†he says.
In schools and tertiary institutions, some students fail to finish their food because of poor quality.
“The beans are full of weevils and the posho is usually yellowish. I think they look for the worst quality,†says Nickson Katende, a student at Luzira Vocational S.S.
Dangers
Throwing away food means it is not being preserved for a rainy day. When anomalies like floods and drought hit, Ugandans are likely to suffer famine, if not crying for the already “spit milk.â€
Way forward
Opolot thinks punishing offenders cannot work, but advocates sensitisation at all levels.
“In other countries, food is considered holy and sacred. We have got to sensitise people and our children. And the media should help us,†he says.
The 2003 Food and Nutrition Policy says food should be treated as a national strategic resource. It calls for the establishment and maintenance of food reserves or funds to be used for staple food purchase at household, sub-county, district, regional and national level, to boost disaster preparedness.
The Food and Agricultural Organisation’s Charles Owach appeals to society to be responsible and respect the right to food.
“The right to access to adequate food should compliment the food security concept. We know that food security may be attained through buying whichever food one is able to buy, or how much they cultivate. But how well can you use the food?†Owach asks.
Opolot also agrees and adds: “If you have cooked a lot of posho, give some to the pigs. For people in towns, you can give it out. There are so many street children and other vulnerable people without anything to eat.â€
What should be done?
- Don’t serve more than you can finish. What you throw away could help someone else.
- If you are considering eating out, tell your maid or the person preparing your meal in advance so that they do not include your share.
- Make sure you confirm time and again with the clients, if you are in the hotel industry. Alternatively, prepare little by little, so that you can prepare fully, after an order has been made.
- Supply extra food to the needy people, instead of leaving it to rot in your store or throwing it away.
- Store food in a clean, dry and safe place to guard against pests and weevils.