ISLAMABAD: The year 2021 will be celebrated as the ‘International Year of Fruits and Vegetables’, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has announced with an appeal to improve healthy and sustainable food production through innovation and technology and to reduce food loss and waste.

The year aims to raise awareness of the nutritional and health benefits of consuming more fruits and vegetables as part of a diversified, balanced and healthy diet and lifestyle as well as to direct policy attention to reducing loss and waste of these highly perishable produce items.

Fruits and vegetables are good sources of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals and beneficial phytochemicals. FAO and the World Health Organisation recommend that each adult consumes at least 400 grams of fruits and vegetables on a daily basis to prevent chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity as well as to counter micronutrient deficiencies.

“With the Covid-19 pandemic, the need to transform and rebalance the way our food is produced and consumed has only been further stressed.

Food loss and waste reduction improves food security and nutrition, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, lowers pressure on water and land resources and can increase productivity and economic growth.”

Up to 50 per cent of fruits and vegetables produced in developing countries are lost in the supply chain between harvest and consumption. Advocacy for fresh produce is consistent with the aim of strengthening the role of smallholder and family farmers, and fosters broader market options for millions of rural families.

FAO Director General QU Dongyu in a statement said food loss and waste in the fruits and vegetables sector remains a problem with considerable consequences, and that “innovative technologies and approaches are of critical importance as they can help maintaining safety and quality, increasing the shelf life of fresh produce items and preserving their high nutritional value.”

FAO is encouraging countries to adopt holistic approaches to tackle food loss and waste reduction in an effort to facilitate access to food for all and particularly for vulnerable groups during the pandemic.

Many countries are acting to reduce food loss and waste as a part of their efforts to promote food and nutrition security and sustainable development. The challenges brought about by the pandemic put these efforts at risk. Public interventions such as investments or policies to create incentives to bolster efforts to reduce food loss and waste are essential.

Current estimates are that nearly 690 million people are hungry or 8.9pc of the world population, up by 10 million people in one year and by nearly 60 million in five years, according to the ‘Food Security and Nutrition Around the World in 2020’ report of FAO.

The number of people affected by severe food insecurity, which is another measure that approximates hunger, shows a similar upward trend. In 2019, close to 750 million - or nearly one in 10 people in the world - were exposed to severe levels of food insecurity.

While the 746 million people facing severe food insecurity are of utmost concern, an additional 16pc of the world population, or more than 1.25 billion people, have experienced food insecurity at moderate levels. People who are moderately food insecure do not have regular access to nutritious and sufficient food, even if not necessarily suffering from hunger.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2020