Annex X to OIC/COMCEC-FC/33-17/REP
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Member Countries. These initiatives could play an important role in the
distribution of food surplus to the needy people. An important successful
initiative, in this regard, is the Egyptian-based food bank model. The program
was initiated in 2005 and donates more than 17 million meals each month. This
program facilitated the participation of more than 400 hotels and restaurants,
ranging from five star hotels to local coffee shops in the Egyptian food bank
system.
In this framework, development of food banks and distribution networks will
help member countries in reducing food waste. Furthermore, the distribution of
food that is being unnecessarily wasted can also increase access of poor to
food, and thereby can help Member Countries achieve food security. Therefore,
the Member Countries are encouraged to establish food banks or to improve the
efficiency of the existing ones.
Policy Advice III: Conducting cohesive initiatives and campaigns to
increase awareness on food waste in supply chain and consumption
Rationale:
The research report conducted for this Meeting reveals that significant
proportion of the people living in the OIC Member Countries have little
concern for food waste. It is also indicated that if they had access to further
information on the environmental impacts associated with food waste and the
provision of solutions on how to reduce food waste, this would encourage them
to reduce food waste. Lack of concern for food waste is applicable to both
households and the food service sector. Taking this into consideration,
conducting food waste initiatives and creating food waste campaigns should be
a priority for OIC Member Countries.
There are various crucial campaigns and initiatives conducted internationally
and by member countries to reduce food waste such as Save Food Initiative of
UN, Pakistan’s ‘one-dish law’, Indonesia’s ‘Law on Food’ and Turkey’s ‘Do
not waste your bread’. For instance, Turkey has conducted a ‘Do not waste
your bread’ campaign, which resulted in 18 percent reduction in bread waste
amounting to US$ 131 million per day. The OIC Member Countries may
examine the experiences of these initiatives, in terms of implementation,
evaluation and monitoring taking their unique cultural and social settings into
consideration. Furthermore, the active involvement of relevant stakeholders
along the food supply is of particular importance for the success of the
campaigns/initiatives. In this respect, the campaigns/initiatives should be
designed in a way to ensure the active involvement of relevant stakeholders
including businesses, local authorities and consumers.