Stop wasting food - FAO boss

Oct 13, 2020

“Please buy only what you need,” Querido said. 

As Uganda joins the rest of the world to celebrate World Food Day, the Food and Agriculture Organization country representative, Antonio Querido, has appealed to Ugandans to stop wasting food.
  
Addressing journalists at the media centre in Kampala yesterday, Querido said Ugandans should only buy what they can finish.
 
"Please buy only what you need," Querido said. 
 
According to Querido, many Ugandans are currently facing food shortages and, therefore, lack food.  

As the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to bite hard on the urban, a survey on food availability has revealed that 17% of Ugandans living in Kampala are facing acute food insecurity. 

Quoting the food security status report for Uganda, Querido noted that in July 2020, six in 10 families sold their productive assets such as land and livestock, and begged or turned to illegal activities to find food.  

The report was for the period June 2020 to January 2021.  It further noted that two in 10 households in urban areas did not have enough food to eat, resorting to poor diets or reduced number and size of meals. 

"This is, therefore, an opportune time to work towards addressing the persistent inequalities and inefficiencies that plague our food systems. We need smart and systematic action to get food to those who need it and improve it for those who have it," he said. 

He advised the Government to enhance the use of digital technology to improve agriculture production, processing, trading, and consumption. 

"Governments need to invest in social protection policies and programmes that ensure safe conditions and decent incomes for smallholder farmers and food chain workers, and adopt measures that avoid economic disruptions," he said. 

Antonio was speaking at a joint press briefing with the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Vincent Ssempijja, and the Deputy Country Director for World Food Programme (WFP) - Uganda, Ryan Anderson.
 
The trios were briefing the country on this year's celebrations to mark the World Food Day. 
The day will be celebrated on Friday at State House, Entebbe under the theme, Grow. Nutrition. Sustain. Together. Our Actions are our Future." 

The objective of the celebration is to reflect on the countries position in terms of food and nutritional security, create awareness about the available resources and sustainable production systems and also highlight progress towards achieving food security and resilience to shocks in the country and the need for more support. 

Ssempijja noted that although Uganda has made significant progress in improving agricultural production and productivity, and produces enough food for everyone, the problem is distribution. 

"Although we now produce more than enough food to feed everyone, our food systems are out of balance. Hunger, obesity, environmental degradation, loss of agro-biological diversity, food loss and waste and a lack of security for food chain workers are only some of the issues that underline this imbalance," he said. 

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