(Ecofin Agency) - To fight hunger and malnutrition, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is campaigning for better consumption habits. This initiative falls in line with the action taken by this institution to reach its target of “zero hunger” by 2030.

Around the world, the United Nation’s institution has chosen a pedagogical approach by educating consumers and teaching those who are able to decently feed themselves how to avoid food wastage.

In June 2018, FAO sub-regional office for Central Africa (FAO SFC) signed an agreement with Gabon for the implementation of the technical cooperation project titled  "Des classes Vertes pour une production innovante, ludique, éducative et nutritive". According to the FAO, this program is a tool thanks to which teachers and students will be sensitized and trained in food production, responsible consumption, and healthy eating habits.  

FAO justifies this approach with the fact that hunger and malnutrition are the most important problems the world should tackle right now. While condemning food wastage in both developed and least developed countries, it adds that though the world’s food production is more than sufficient, there are regions where hunger is a serious issue.

According to FAO, food wastage occurs all along the supply chain, from the management of the agriculture production to transformation, distribution, and management of the end products.

Indeed, in a 2014 report published by the institution, every year, about a fifth (1.3 billion tons)  of the world's food production is lost or wasted.

Stéphane Billé