Preventing food waste: Innovations and solutions in the Arab region

There is not a more complex context for food waste than in the Arab region, whose unique culture, religions, history, and climate impact on the decision and behaviors of consumers and retailers with regards to food waste. Given the region's limited natural resources and dependency on food imports to meet nutritional needs, the high levels of food waste at retail and in West Asia is not only uneconomical, it is harmful to the environment and the region's food security. Of all food lost and wasted in the Arab region, about 1/3 is wasted at retail and consumer levels. Certainly there is need to manage the generation, reuse or recycling, and disposal of food and non-food organic waste in a circular bio-economy. However, what can we do to prevent food waste from occurring in the first place? What new solutions can we examine and learn from, bearing in mind the impacts of COVID-19 on food retail and consumption and on digitalization of food systems?

In light of the alarming challenges, FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa and the United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for West Asia are convening a webinar aims at inviting stakeholders to exchange knowledge and experience about solutions ranging from measurement to social, technological, and policy innovations to tackle food waste prevention.

 Registration: Please click here

Date: Wednesday, 28 April 2021

Time: 11:00 AM – 01:00 PM (GMT+2)

Agenda and Speakers:

11:00	Welcome and introduction Opening remarks by Abdul-Majeid Haddad, Deputy Regional Director, UNEP, West Asia Office Opening remarks by Abdulhakim El Waer, Assistant Director General and Regional Representative, FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa
11:15	Regional Innovation Flagship, Rachid Serraj,Delivery Manager of the Regional Initiative for Small-scale Family Farming, FAO/RNE
11:20	Food Waste in West Asia – an Overview, Tarek Al Khoury, Regional Coordinator, Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Consumption and Production, UNEP, West Asia Office
11:30	Panel presentations and discussion – Bringing Food Waste solutions to the table Exploring the opportunity for organic household waste management technology options and the priorities for food waste management in the Kingdom of Bahrain,Sumaya Yusuf Hasan, Assistant Professor - Environmental Management Programme, Arabian Gulf University, Kingdom of Bahrain Measurement and action for food waste reduction in Tunisia, Raoudha Khaldi, Professor of Agricultural, Agri-food economy and Value chain development, INRAT - Tunisia The Food Waste Opportunity. AI technology to reduce food waste, Ignacio Ramirez Rico, Global Head of Operations, Managing Director MENA, Winnow (https://www.winnowsolutions.com/) Creating value from waste in Foodstores, Abdellatif Hadj Hamou, Manager, Tatmine - Morocco (https://tatmine.ma/)   Question & Answer, and open discussion
12:50	Closing remarks

 

N.B.: Simultaneous interpretation available in English, French and Arabic.