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2013 GHANA FOOD WASTAGE REPORT

By CHEFS FOR CHANGE GHANA FOUNDATION
Press Release 2013 GHANA FOOD WASTAGE REPORT
AUG 30, 2014 LISTEN

THEME: THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF FOOD WASTAGE IN GHANA

SUBJECT: GHANA LOSSES $8.9 BILLION TO FOOD WASTAGE IN 2013

REPORT BY: CHEFS FOR CHANGE GHANA FOUNDATION

Chefs For Change Ghana Foundation(CFCG) is a non profit food recovery organisation made up of chefs,student,hoteliers, and volunteers that have over the years been advocating towards the reduction of food wastage and hunger in Ghana and across the African continent.We create sustainable means of nutrition for less privileged citizens including the mentally retarded,aged,prisoners,street kids and disable in our community.Our annual Feast of Hope project is tauted as the largest feeding of less privileged people on a UN World food day across Africa.Our objective is to create a realistic solution and national awareness on the economic impact of food wastage across Africa.CFCG is a partner of SAVE FOOD,an FAO Global initiative with technical support from Tristram Stuart (Global food wastage expert) and Aregalas Hellas(Chefs without Borders).

Food wastage is fast becoming a part of the Ghanaian lifestyle. A recent study by the Food and Agriculture Organization reported that one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, amounting to as much as 1.2 billion metric tonnes annually. Food waste is a global problem of staggering proportions, but the underlying reasons differ between countries. The report estimated the magnitude of worldwide food losses, but did not assess the corresponding climate change or economic impacts.

Besides environmental impacts, food waste also imposes an economic cost on consumers and retailers. If quantified correctly, this could provide a unique incentive to simultaneously mitigate emissions and save money through waste reduction.

The motivation for this study was to quantify in a comprehensive manner, for the first time, the annual economic impact of the food wasted in Ghana using the food availability data from MOFA's annual reports and other related studies carried out globally. This is important given the current position of Ghana's economy, our over dependence of food imports, the rapid growth of our catering, hospitality and grocery industry.

The approach adopted in this study is both bottoms-up. It analyzes 87 distinct Ghanaian and foreign food commodities mostly used in Ghana and then group them into 17 food categories. Each of the 87 commodities is modeled using one or more representative production system. The study captured the inefficiencies in the Ghanaian food system and provided detailed information to what Government, Businesses and consumers should do to improve our food system. It went further to calculate the amount of food wasted by weight before calculating the value of wasted food in the year 2013. From the study, Ghana lost 3.2 million metric tons of food valued at $8.9 billion in 2013, which could have been more if food losses on Ghanaian farms were included. Distribution losses amounted to 1.7million tones, whiles retail and consumer losses are 578,000 and 946,000mt respectively. Using Ghana's population estimate of 25.91 million (GSS, 2012), the per capita retail value of total food wasted in Ghana is $342.67 per year.

For detailed information on the study, please find attached the executive summary of the study. The Ghanaian has a big responsibility to inform and educate Ghanaians on the effects of food wastage in this country hence we believe you will pass this information onto the populace.

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