The amount of food waste is on the increase in the Kingdom, said Khaled Al-Fuhaid, undersecretary for Livestock Affairs at the Ministry of Agriculture.
“The Farmer’s Day market to the north of Riyadh, where 50 tons of agricultural foodstuffs were dumped, was a sad example of this,” he said.
“Making use of waste foodstuff requires establishing companies near farmers’ sites that can reuse the surplus in crops and products,” explained Al-Fuhaid.
He said no comprehensive data was available on the quantity of waste foodstuff in the Kingdom but that he expected such data to be released soon. A Royal Decree established a committee that recently embarked on tasks that include gathering such data. The committee consists of members of seven government bodies.
“The committee will draft legislations and regulations that limit the processing of wasted food and agro-products in Saudi Arabia. It will also recommend holding workshops, conferences, seminars and awareness campaigns,” he added. Waste food is estimated at 1.3 billion tons on a global level, worth $ 750 billion (SR2.8 billion).
Al-Fuhaid said the reason for contracting the size of lands planted with wheat is the lack of natural resources, water in particular. The Kingdom gets its food supplies either by imports or through domestic production.
“One of the arms to support food security in the Kingdom is the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for agricultural investment abroad,” he explained. “The Agricultural Development Fund has announced control mechanisms for investing abroad. One such measure is allocating part of the crop produce for Saudi Arabia.”
He said, “Such investments are of high risk in any part of the world. Many countries invite Saudi investors to familiarize them with the investment environment in their part of the world and everyone of them analyzes the risks related and takes the decision that suits his investment.”
KSA concerned about rising food waste
