The estimated household food waste in Oman is 95kg per capita a year or 470,322 tonnes in 2019, according to the United Nations Food Waste Index Report 2021.
Among other countries in the GCC, the estimated household food waste in UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait is 95kg per capita per year.
An estimated 931 million tonnes of food, or 17 per cent of the total food available to consumers in 2019, went into the waste bins of households, retailers, restaurants, and other food services, according to the UN research to support global efforts to halve food waste by 2030.
According to Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), although food waste had been thought of as a problem mostly affecting rich countries, the report found levels of waste were surprisingly similar in all nations.
The study reveals that households discard 11 per cent of food at the consumption stage of the supply chain, while food services and retail outlets waste five and two per cent, respectively.
This has substantial environmental, social and economic impacts, according to the report, which points out that 8 to 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with unconsumed food.
“Reducing food waste would cut greenhouse gas emissions, slow the destruction of nature through land conversion and pollution, enhance the availability of food and thus reduce hunger and save money at a time of global recession”, said Anderson
In 2019, over 690 million people were impacted by hunger and three billion were unable to afford a healthy diet.
Total weight of all food waste was weighed, meaning not only edible and spoiled food, but also inedible parts such as bones and shells.
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