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The world wasted an estimated 19 per cent of the food produced globally in 2022, or about 1.05 billion metric tons, according to a new United Nations report. The UN Environment Programme's Food Waste Index Report, published Wednesday, tracks the progress of countries to halve food waste by 2030. The UN said the number of countries reporting for the index nearly doubled from the first report in 2021. The 2021 report estimated that 17 per cent of the food produced globally in 2019, or 931 million metric tons (1.03 billion tons), was wasted, but authors warned against direct comparisons because of the lack of sufficient data from many countries. The report is co-authored by UNEP and Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), an international charity. Researchers analyzed country data on households, food service and retailers. They found that each person wastes about 79 kilograms (about 174 pounds) of food annually, equal to at least 1 billion meals wasted worldwide daily. Most of t
India G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant on Thursday made a strong case for food waste prevention programmes globally to reduce food insecurity and mobilise private funding for research in sustainable agriculture. Kant was addressing the maiden Global Food Regulators Summit 2023 here. "This is the first time a meeting of this nature is being held during India's G20 presidency. We feel strongly that locally adapted crops are significant for the transition towards resilient agriculture and food systems," he said. To strengthen research, collaboration and public awareness of green crops, the G20 in its agriculture ministerial meeting, launched millet and other ancient grains international research initiative called Maharishi. The former bureaucrat said the world is passing through a critical time as one-third of the world is in recession, and 75 countries of the world are facing a global debt crisis. Also, there is a major crisis of food, fuel and fertiliser in several countries. "The need of t