As the global population continues to grow, the demand for food also grows. The solution to this problem is not to produce more food but rather to waste less food. Globally, about one-third of food that people produce for human consumption goes to waste, which is about 1.3 billion tons. This number includes 45% of all fruits and vegetables, 35% of seafood, 30% of cereals, 20% of dairy products and 20% of meat. Unsurprisingly, studies have repeatedly shown that developed countries, on average, waste more food than developing ones. Read on to learn about food waste around the world.
Food Waste Culprits in the Developed World
The United States and Australia are the two countries that produce the most food waste in the world. In 2010, around 133 billion pounds of food went to waste in the U.S., which is $161 billion worth of food. In 2015, the USDA and EPA joined together to set a goal of cutting food waste by 50% by 2050. Despite that goal, the U.S. continues to waste about 30% to 40% of its food supply each year.
Every year in Australia, about 7.3 million tons of food goes to waste. Australia’s food waste per person is around 300 kg. Australia’s food waste costs the country’s economy an estimated $20 billion each year. As a result, the Australian government set a goal to halve its food waste by 2030.
These two countries contribute massive amounts of food waste around the world despite having the wealth to address the issue.
Food Waste Champions in the Developed World
Greece and China are the most efficient countries when it comes to limiting food waste around the world. Columbia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and France are not far behind them in terms of how other developed countries rank. The scale and reach of governmental actions to address the issue separate these countries from the U.S. and Australia in the fight against food waste.
In 2017, the Sustainable Food Movement emerged out of Athens. Greece’s immense success today results from people taking this initiative seriously and enforcing it with fervor. The country went from producing an average amount of food waste to being the most food efficient country in the world. It accomplished this feat in just three years.
Greece sets an example for the rest of the world. It proves other places could implement similar initiatives to diminish food waste around the world.
Food Waste in the Developing World
Affluent countries have the means to significantly lower their food waste. However, developing countries tend to outperform many developed countries in this particular arena. India and Brazil are two examples of developing countries displaying some of the lowest food waste levels in the world. Each year, Brazil produces almost 15 million kg of waste nationally and 71 kg per person.
Meanwhile, India wastes up to 40% of its food each year. India has one of the highest rates of food waste nationally at nearly 68 million kg. Yet, its food waste per person is quite low at 51 kg per year. To note, India’s population is nearly 1.4 billion people, showing that a gap exists between its national and personal food waste statistics.
An important distinction between developed and developing countries is the stage that people are most likely to waste food. In developed countries, the individual consumer level is where most food waste occurs. This is due to the average citizen’s ability to buy more than enough food for their family. In developing countries, the most wasteful stage of food production happens in the earliest stages of distribution. Poor infrastructure and inadequate food storage vessels contribute to the most food waste in these countries. In fact, much of the food is wasted before it ever reaches the consumer.
Food for Thought
The global population is about 7.6 billion, and 925 million of those people are starving. The amount of food wasted globally each year is enough food to feed 3 billion people. In other words, the world has more than enough food to feed the planet, but there is a huge issue of food distribution.
By 2050, estimates have determined that the global population will become around 9 billion. This means that food production will have to increase by 70% to keep up with the world’s current path. That is a near-impossible task to accomplish. It would be more efficient to refocus efforts on limiting food waste overall.
Food waste around the world is an issue that some countries have chosen to tackle with great success while other countries falter. The future of the world population depends on all countries working to decrease food waste.
A Helping Hand
Hands for Hunger, an NGO based in the Bahamas, is making significant progress in the pervasive issue of worldwide food waste. A group of students realized that restaurants and hotels throw an immense amount of unspoiled food away every day. As a result, they set out to change that.
Hands for Hunger focuses on obtaining this typically discarded food and redistributing it to the less fortunate. In addition, it educates the public on the issue itself and solutions. The organization serves around 15,000 meals to Bahamians each week by redistributing restaurant and hotel food to its 17 outreach agencies. It delivers around 4,530 pounds of food to Bahamians in need every week.
Hands for Hunger has rescued over 1 million pounds of fresh food. Through its recovery efforts, the organization is able to donate quality food to those in need. Almost 50% of all food donations in 2017 were high-need items such as dairy, proteins and fresh fruits and vegetables. Hands for Hunger is just one of many NGOs doing fantastic work to decrease food waste around the world. While food waste is a problem, it has an attainable and feasible solution.
– Natalie Tarbox
Photo: Pixabay
21 Day Lockdown: Affects on India’s Workforce
Migrant Workers
During the lockdown, all stores, factories and businesses shut down. For many migrant workers, this was problematic since it is their employers who provide them with food and shelter. To get home, many of these people used public transportation every week — which was also shut down. Under these circumstances, tens of thousands of migrant workers became stranded with no means of transportation to return home — except on foot. Consequently, workers and families walk hundreds of kilometers in the streets, close to one another, to arrive home. Moreover, these workers have limited access to health products and resources. Many of these people live on daily income and without these funds, they must rely on the government for financial support.
Access to Resources
This sheds light on the second problem, the distribution of resources. Due to the lockdown, India’s economy could drop by nearly 8%. This has prompted the government to invest in a $23 billion relief package to help sustain India’s poor and stimulate the economy.
But does this provide people with enough? Does this provide for everyone? Dr. Sanjay Kumar, an activist, professor and leader in the field of urban development, describes the situation as “very related with social security systems.” He describes a lack of equal connection between people and resources, explaining that “public distribution is not connected.” This is about the lack of equal distribution of goods, not the lack of goods in the first place. Since more than 80% of India’s workforce works within the informal sector and all inessential jobs have been shut down, these people are left jobless. They need resources but find them difficult to obtain because they can no longer access them through their jobs.
Coordination
Thirdly, there has been a lack of coordination by the government while implementing this lockdown. There was much confusion among policemen during the lockdown. This resulted in multiple cases of police brutality against those in India’s workforce simply trying to return home. Additionally, there is much confusion and a lack of education regarding the virus. India’s workforce is not adequately educated on social distancing — a practice that is very important for the containment of the virus. “There is a gap between planning, announcement and implementation… due to this gap, people are suffering,” Dr. Kumar said. Due to this disorganization, Prime Minister Modi has publicly apologized for the poor execution of this lockdown.
Two further important issues remain. That of healthcare funding, which is very low and the high amount of immunocompromised citizens with respiratory diseases. India currently has 2.09 million people confirmed to have the new coronavirus. Bearing in mind the limited ability to test because of poor healthcare funding, this is a great concern. The rise in cases has shown to be fairly rapid. Concerned, global citizens can assist India and its informal workforce through advocation. E.g., advocating for the creation of a social security net, donating to hospitals, donating to families and advocating for the government to invest in India’s healthcare system. Through this type of action, India’s workforce may see a much needed, positive turn around.
– Hope Arpa Chow
Photo: Google Images
The History of the UNICEF Tap Project
In 2006, Esquire magazine’s advertising executive, David Droga, created a newfound ad campaign that would spark positive social change: the UNICEF Tap Project. The goal of the UNICEF Tap Project was to inspire regular individuals to supply UNICEF water. This is a subset of the UNICEF foundation that provides water, sanitation and hygiene services to disadvantaged children and adolescents. The project launched in 2007 and began as a physical campaign in collaboration with New York City restaurants. There, those dining would donate $1 to receive the tap water that they normally would receive for free. By 2008, the project became a massive success, as several thousand restaurants became involved.
Campaigns that Help Raise Money and Awareness
As the Tap Project continued, UNICEF leaders wanted ordinary people to understand what it is like for individuals in developing countries to only have access to dirty water. In addition, UNICEF created a vending machine, where you can pay $1 and push to have a bottle of dirty water come out. The buttons on the vending machine are the names of different diseases that people in countries that lack clean water are exposed to. For example, including typhoid fever, dengue and hepatitis. Moreover, in an advertisement for the Tap Project that shows footage of New York participants, UNICEF notes that nobody drank the water. However, many donated to the cause.
Soon, the campaign morphed into a website. This website asked participants to give up their phones, as a symbol of an unnecessary but desired item. In return, the participants can give another person something that they desperately needed: water. In 2014, the Tap Project launched this web app. For as long as participants did not use their mobile devices, UNICEF would donate water to those in need. The project took off and was sponsored by generous donations from companies like Giorgino Armani Fragrances and S’well Bottles. To amplify this campaign, celebrities and YouTube moguls like Bethany Mota began to promote it through their platforms. Through the UNICEF Tap Project challenges, every minute counts that the participants do not touch their phones. For instance, if participants did not touch their cell phone for 30 minutes, they would donate 11 water purification tablets.
Successful Mobilization Efforts
The UNICEF Tap Project mobilized thousands of individuals to give up their phones to give others access to clean water. After participating, users could share the page with friends and family, or they could chip in a donation of their own. Although the UNICEF Tap Project ceased after a decade, the project’s efforts contributed to a dramatic decrease in the number of children dying from waterborne illnesses. For example, the numbers reduced from 4,000 a day in 2006 to 1,000 a day in 2015. All in all, the UNICEF Tap Project directly aided almost half a million people and raised over $6 million.
What Can People Do to Help?
Although the UNICEF Tap Project ended in 2015, help is still needed. Today, 2.2 billion people still do not have access to clean water. Although the organization has moved onto the creation of new campaigns to aid those without access to clean water, there are a plethora of ways for individuals to help today.
Despite the end to the UNICEF Tap Project, there is a multitude of ways to bring clean water to communities around the world that need it. Whether it is through donations, volunteering or education, the acts of many may be able to continue in the UNICEF Tap Project’s footsteps.
– Caitlin Calfo
Photo: Flickr
The Use of International COVID-19 Relief to Date
While COVID-19 relief policies have provided much needed economic support to the American people, Congress has passed several international COVID-19 relief measures as well. These relief packages have provided various resources, from supplying healthcare commodities to funding research vaccine development. These packages assist foreign nations in preparing for and responding to the novel coronavirus 2019.
International COVID-19 Relief Efforts
As the virus has developed, Congress has approved several measures to respond to the outbreak and assist the international community. In early March 2020, the first of these measures allocated $1.25 billion in supplemental funding to the International Affairs Budget. Later in the month, Congress allocated $220 million more in international resources, followed by a third supplemental of $1.12 billion. Finally, in early July 2020, Congress allocated nearly $10 billion in emergency funding for COVID-19 relief.
In total, Congress has allocated nearly $12 billion to respond to the needs of the international community and fight against the reversal of decades of poverty reduction work. The funds have had a broad effect, reaching nearly all regions of the global community.
Africa
The United States’ response to COVID-19 in Africa has been extensive. However, the country’s partnership with UNICEF in Senegal highlights just how much of a difference international funding makes. Through financial support, USAID has partnered with UNICEF in training over 500 community health workers, constructing just under 500 hand-washing stands and distributing over 2000 hand-washing kits. In total, the funding has supported the disinfectant measures of over 400 schools, 1,800 houses and 1,400 health structures.
Asia
Perhaps no Asian nation has benefited more from international COVID-19 relief than Nepal. As part of USAID’s Sahara project, the organization has “assisted nearly 400 municipalities in locating areas at heightened risk of COVID-19 transmission, screening migrant returnees for COVID-19 symptoms, and coordinating relief efforts related to the disease outbreak.” The program has assisted nearly 7,500 households in finding medical assistance. It has also supplied over 1 million families with counseling on sanitation practices over the phone and reached nearly 3.6 million people via social media.
Europe and Eurasia
One of the most severely affected European nations, Italy is an excellent display of the effectiveness of international COVID-19 relief. According to USAID’s website, the “U.S. support includes $50 million in health, humanitarian, and economic assistance implemented by USAID to bolster Italy’s response to COVID-19.” To be most effective, USAID has both paired up with non-governmental organizations to supplement its efforts and the Italian government in order to provide health commodities.
Latin America and the Caribbean
USAID has been extremely active in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly in Haiti. Through financial support, the organization has been able to provide Haiti with health commodities. USAID has also trained nurses to assist in testing, which is critical for an efficient response to the virus. According to its website, USAID has “assisted with the sampling and testing of more than 2,600 people since the beginning of May.”
The Middle East and North Africa
The nation of Tunisia provides one of the most compelling examples of the effectiveness of international aid in the Middle East and North Africa. Along with UNICEF, USAID helped provide sanitation kits to schools, daycares and health care facilities. Their efforts reached nearly 100 facilities. The organization also granted $6 million to support frontline workers and aid in a national campaign to spread awareness and prevent a second wave.
As COVD-19 has unfolded, the United States has made several contributions to aid the global community. These examples highlight a few of the many ways that the international response has made a difference in nations worldwide.
– Michael Messina
Photo: Pexels
10 Facts About Homelessness in New Zealand
New Zealand is a high-income country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. In 2019, New Zealand’s GDP per capita was $42,084, a number almost identical to the United Kingdom’s GDP per capita. Despite this high level of wealth, an increasing number of New Zealanders are facing homelessness. New Zealand’s definition of homelessness includes people living in temporary residences or uninhabitable conditions, those sharing a residence with another household and those sleeping in cars or on the streets.
10 Facts About Homelessness in New Zealand
Only time will tell how homelessness in New Zealand may change as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes. The hope is that the government’s recent actions will provide protection to those living on the streets, while also preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The government’s construction plans also have the potential to provide housing to many homeless New Zealanders, securing a brighter future for both the individuals and the country.
– Emily Dexter
Photo: Unsplash
Children with Cancer in Mexico
For the last two years, parents of children with cancer in Mexico have been fighting the government due to drug shortages. Children are going months without chemo and those lucky enough to have the treatment are not receiving the drugs that keep the rest of their body safe from the radiation. Children have died waiting for their treatments. Parents are protesting in the streets and taking the word of the President on reform of the corrupt healthcare system with a grain of salt.
Corruption and Reduced Budgets Collide
To the people of Mexico, it does not come as a surprise that the President announced the existence of corruption in the medical industry and the healthcare system. During a speech, the President rebuked the notion that his recent budget cuts aided in the shortage, focusing instead on the healthcare system’s alleged internal corruption. AMLO claimed that pharmaceutical monopolies have gone as far as to withhold drugs from the ill.
However, in May 2019, the first large budget from the current administration hit healthcare. The cuts resulted in the cancellation of surgeries for children and layoffs of nearly 200 people per hospital. Operating on an extremely reduced budget means that hospitals can no longer afford large quantities of necessary medicines. One hospital has had to cancel multiple surgeries due to its inability to afford the normal amount of anesthesia.
Cuts to staff have put more patients at risk as there are not enough nurses to provide the necessary care. Another hospital currently does not have enough nurses for its pediatric floor. Additionally, it is running low on basic supplies and surgical equipment. Meanwhile, Mexican civilians believe both are the root cause of the extreme shortages and they want answers, not deflection.
The Biggest Risk for Children
Cancer is the most predominant reason of death for children in Mexico with an age range of 5 to 14 years old. This type of situation tends to hit families from rural areas the hardest due to the lack of healthcare facilities nearby. Low education rates among Mexico’s poorest make it nearly impossible for parents to know the signs of cancer, too. Malnutrition and consistent illness are not uncommon among extremely impoverished families and it is often too late once they are able to get to a doctor.
Preceding 2005, over half of the children with cancer in Mexico did not receive comprehensive medical care. Now, a child dies from cancer every four hours and the lack of drugs only amplifies the chance of mortality. The mortality rate is 50% but 70% of deaths are preventable if the child receives proper drugs and treatments early on.
Parents Fight Back
On September 4, 2020, parents and family members of children with cancer in Mexico took to the streets of Mexico City to protest drug shortages that have severely hindered their child’s quality of life. Their children have gone months without vital drugs like cardioxane that keep toxicity from chemo away from the heart. Meanwhile, canceled chemotherapy sessions are becoming routine. Cancer, no matter the type, does not yield in times of crisis. Children have died waiting for the reinstatement of treatments or for the refilling of necessary prescriptions.
The march was not the first and will not be the last. Throughout 2020, protests in Mexico have become an everyday occurrence in the fight for necessary cancer drugs for the children of the country. Most of the families that the shortage has afflicted are low-income or in extreme poverty and their only option is to fight to end the suffering of their sick children.
A Single Institute Makes A Difference
Casa De La Amistad (CDLA) is a Mexican organization in Chiapas (one of the poorest states in Mexico) dedicated to helping pediatric patients afflicted with cancer in rural areas. It provides a multitude of services for children diagnosed with cancer and their families. The CDLA works with hospitals spanning over the county and receives a notification when a child is in need of its services. It gives children transportation to and from hospitals for treatments and appointments, housing for them and their families, food, counseling for families and individuals and the continuation of school.
A recent partnership between CDLA and the AbbVie Foundation, Direct Relief has improved the survival rate of the children it provides for. Families are no longer abandoning treatment due to a lack of funds or transportation. In the first three years, the abandonment percentage dropped from 6% to 2%. Children receiving aid from the CDLA had a 50% lower mortality rate in comparison to the national average. Since 2018, CDLA and AbbVie have helped over 300 children, many of whom were on a waitlist.
Children with cancer in Mexico are suffering from a dilapidated healthcare system. Passing the blame does not solve the problem. Children’s lives are at stake but citizens from around the world are trying to make a difference where the government is failing.
– Amanda Rogers
Photo: Flickr
Digital Health Apps in Africa Aim to Revolutionize Medical Care
A Pew Research Center survey of 7,052 people across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda found that an average of two-thirds of respondents own cell phones. Across Africa, people use smartphones less widely than regular mobile phones. For example, 34% of respondents in South Africa own smartphones. Regardless, rising cell phone access offers the potential to improve access to health care for many across the continent.
Healthcare in Africa
Less than 50% of people across Africa can access modern health facilities, and 80% rely on public health facilities. However, public health facilities often experience chronic drug shortages, causing many patients to die from otherwise curable diseases. In 2015 alone, approximately 1.6 million people in Africa died of tuberculosis, malaria or HIV-related illnesses. Proper medication or vaccines can prevent, treat or even cure these diseases.
Many African countries spend less than 10% of their gross domestic product on healthcare. The lack of funding for health care limits the accessibility to adequate health care. There is also a lack of skilled medical personnel throughout the continent, as many trained doctors are drawn to the European and American job markets.
mHealth Benefits and Innovations
Technology is now transforming healthcare in Africa by helping improve healthcare access and quality in remote areas. These digital platforms also simplify the process for doctors and policymakers to access data. In turn, doctors and policymakers can use that data to make better-informed individual and system-wide healthcare decisions.
According to a report by the World Health Organization, digital health apps also have the ability to decrease the financial and physical burden associated with transportation to healthcare facilities, “overcome communication delays” through reliable and real-time data and “increase health workers’ adherence to clinical guidelines.” The four digital health apps below are among the many innovations helping to make healthcare more attainable throughout Africa.
Challenges for mHealth
The cost of cell phones and unreliable cell phone service serve as barriers to digital health in Africa. For these reasons, mHealth is biased toward wealthier groups. In Uganda, for instance, 93% of individuals with secondary education or higher own a mobile phone. Compare this number to the 61% of individuals with lower levels of education and the accessibility gap becomes clear. Gender also plays a role: six of the seven countries surveyed by the Pew Research Center, men are more likely to own a mobile phone than women.
For mHealth to continue expanding and thriving throughout the continent, the Brookings Institution states, “Governments will need to play an active role…through regulation, legal frameworks, and technical training in the health sector.” When access to technology becomes widely available, digital health apps in Africa have the power to make healthcare widely accessible.
– Zoe Engels
Photo: Wikimedia
Fighting Childhood Stunting in Bangladesh
Stunting is the impaired development of children usually due to malnutrition. The People’s Republic of Bangladesh in South East Asia has had one of the highest levels of stunting for children under 5-years-old. It measured at 45% of children under 5 in 2000. A growing national economy has reduced the number of childhood stunting in Bangladesh to 36%. However, this is still a high considering that poor nutrition in the first years of a child’s life can contribute to irreversible damage to health, growth and development.
With the aid of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Bangladesh government’s National Nutrition Council Executive Committee has put forward a Second National Plan of Action for Nutrition targeting improvements in countrywide sustenance. It is the first funded nutrition program of its kind in Bangladesh. Nutrition is an area that requires addressing in the country. As a result, nonprofit organizations including UNICEF, CARE and the World Bank have worked in cooperation with the government’s nutrition program. They developed a collective impact to fight childhood stunting in Bangladesh.
CARE Collective Impact
Nonprofit organization CARE develops disaster response, food and nutrition, health and education for impoverished people globally. The organization’s approach is to link with partners. Together, they execute CARE’s programs as well as support promotions on a national scale. In Bangladesh, CARE has developed the Nutrition at the Center program. It follows the Second National Plan of Action for Nutrition. According to a CARE survey, the program has helped reduce stunting in children less than 2-years-old from 47% to 33%.
UNICEF
Additionally, UNICEF is a nonprofit organization that supports children globally through partnerships. The organization is working in cooperation with the Bangladesh government’s Second National Plan of Action for Nutrition in making a collective impact to fight childhood stunting in Bangladesh. UNICEF has developed research-based programs that reduce stunting within the first 1,000 days of life. This includes counseling on the proper nutrition of pregnant mothers to reduce underweight babies and improve childhood feeding. This highlights the diversity of foods, improves vitamin use and treats infection and severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
The World Bank
Furthermore, the World Bank is a nonprofit organization that invests knowledge and money in developing countries. The organization views investing in Bangladesh’s nutrition as an investment in the future socioeconomic potential of the children. Among children under 5, about 5.5 million are stunted, and out of that number, poorer children bear a disproportionate burden of stunted growth. The World Bank’s plan includes supporting childhood nutrition as well as a conditional cash transfer for 600,000 families.
Bangladesh has made considerable progress but continues to struggle with childhood nutrition. Children born stunted will potentially experience later puberty development and cognitive impairment. This can lead to poor school and later work performance. Stunted women often end up having stunted children, continuing the cycle. Therefore, programs that invest in proper nutrition are vital. The Bangladesh government’s nutrition program seeks to reduce childhood stunting by 25% by 2025. With the collective impact of fighting childhood stunting by nonprofit organizations like CARE, UNICEF and the World Bank, this goal can potentially become a reality.
– Joseph Maria
Photo: Flickr
Food Waste Around the World Examined
As the global population continues to grow, the demand for food also grows. The solution to this problem is not to produce more food but rather to waste less food. Globally, about one-third of food that people produce for human consumption goes to waste, which is about 1.3 billion tons. This number includes 45% of all fruits and vegetables, 35% of seafood, 30% of cereals, 20% of dairy products and 20% of meat. Unsurprisingly, studies have repeatedly shown that developed countries, on average, waste more food than developing ones. Read on to learn about food waste around the world.
Food Waste Culprits in the Developed World
The United States and Australia are the two countries that produce the most food waste in the world. In 2010, around 133 billion pounds of food went to waste in the U.S., which is $161 billion worth of food. In 2015, the USDA and EPA joined together to set a goal of cutting food waste by 50% by 2050. Despite that goal, the U.S. continues to waste about 30% to 40% of its food supply each year.
Every year in Australia, about 7.3 million tons of food goes to waste. Australia’s food waste per person is around 300 kg. Australia’s food waste costs the country’s economy an estimated $20 billion each year. As a result, the Australian government set a goal to halve its food waste by 2030.
These two countries contribute massive amounts of food waste around the world despite having the wealth to address the issue.
Food Waste Champions in the Developed World
Greece and China are the most efficient countries when it comes to limiting food waste around the world. Columbia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and France are not far behind them in terms of how other developed countries rank. The scale and reach of governmental actions to address the issue separate these countries from the U.S. and Australia in the fight against food waste.
In 2017, the Sustainable Food Movement emerged out of Athens. Greece’s immense success today results from people taking this initiative seriously and enforcing it with fervor. The country went from producing an average amount of food waste to being the most food efficient country in the world. It accomplished this feat in just three years.
Greece sets an example for the rest of the world. It proves other places could implement similar initiatives to diminish food waste around the world.
Food Waste in the Developing World
Affluent countries have the means to significantly lower their food waste. However, developing countries tend to outperform many developed countries in this particular arena. India and Brazil are two examples of developing countries displaying some of the lowest food waste levels in the world. Each year, Brazil produces almost 15 million kg of waste nationally and 71 kg per person.
Meanwhile, India wastes up to 40% of its food each year. India has one of the highest rates of food waste nationally at nearly 68 million kg. Yet, its food waste per person is quite low at 51 kg per year. To note, India’s population is nearly 1.4 billion people, showing that a gap exists between its national and personal food waste statistics.
An important distinction between developed and developing countries is the stage that people are most likely to waste food. In developed countries, the individual consumer level is where most food waste occurs. This is due to the average citizen’s ability to buy more than enough food for their family. In developing countries, the most wasteful stage of food production happens in the earliest stages of distribution. Poor infrastructure and inadequate food storage vessels contribute to the most food waste in these countries. In fact, much of the food is wasted before it ever reaches the consumer.
Food for Thought
The global population is about 7.6 billion, and 925 million of those people are starving. The amount of food wasted globally each year is enough food to feed 3 billion people. In other words, the world has more than enough food to feed the planet, but there is a huge issue of food distribution.
By 2050, estimates have determined that the global population will become around 9 billion. This means that food production will have to increase by 70% to keep up with the world’s current path. That is a near-impossible task to accomplish. It would be more efficient to refocus efforts on limiting food waste overall.
Food waste around the world is an issue that some countries have chosen to tackle with great success while other countries falter. The future of the world population depends on all countries working to decrease food waste.
A Helping Hand
Hands for Hunger, an NGO based in the Bahamas, is making significant progress in the pervasive issue of worldwide food waste. A group of students realized that restaurants and hotels throw an immense amount of unspoiled food away every day. As a result, they set out to change that.
Hands for Hunger focuses on obtaining this typically discarded food and redistributing it to the less fortunate. In addition, it educates the public on the issue itself and solutions. The organization serves around 15,000 meals to Bahamians each week by redistributing restaurant and hotel food to its 17 outreach agencies. It delivers around 4,530 pounds of food to Bahamians in need every week.
Hands for Hunger has rescued over 1 million pounds of fresh food. Through its recovery efforts, the organization is able to donate quality food to those in need. Almost 50% of all food donations in 2017 were high-need items such as dairy, proteins and fresh fruits and vegetables. Hands for Hunger is just one of many NGOs doing fantastic work to decrease food waste around the world. While food waste is a problem, it has an attainable and feasible solution.
– Natalie Tarbox
Photo: Pixabay
UPI in India: Changing Banking for Millions
In 2016, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system launched in India. Its goal was ambitious: a level playing field for small businesses and impoverished communities through re-imagined banking. In the midst of a global pandemic that has forced a socially distant lifestyle, UPI has never been more important nor more successful.
UPI’s Humble Beginnings
UPI’s primary purpose was to become an online platform that would eliminate bureaucratic and socioeconomic barriers to financial transactions. The goal was to allow anybody, from small Kickstarter businesses to multinational banks, to have the same access to banking capabilities.
UPI creates a standard set of rules for everybody on the platform—all Indian banks have access. Thus, smaller banks have equal opportunities to reach people as big ones. This goal is feasible due to UPI’s innovative techniques. With UPI, the party collecting money from an individual is decoupled from that individual’s bank account. This allows third-party apps such as Google Pay, PhonePe and Amazon Pay to collect and administer transactions without excess burden to the customer.
UPI makes things even more consumer-friendly by eliminating the need to enter long bank account and routing numbers for transfers. A virtual payment address, a simple username akin to an email address, replaces detailed information.
Finally, it is important to note that UPI serves a myriad of functions in the financial world. Simple peer-to-peer monetary transactions are carried out seamlessly. Advanced maneuvers are also handled with ease, including merging banking features from different banks, micro pensions and digital insurance.
UPI’s Growth
Since its launch, UPI has seen tremendous growth in both users and the number of transactions. Its user base is strong—recent numbers indicate over 100 million users. Its goal is to reach 500 million users by 2022. While this seems ambitious, early critics of the program did not expect UPI to gain the traction it has already.
The novel coronavirus impacted UPI both positively and negatively. During the worst of the lockdown, UPI’s transaction count decreased. People staying at home lowered demand for the platform’s services. However, since May 2020, UPI has boomed in both the number of transactions and the amount of money transferred. The number of transactions grew by 12% in July 2020, with 1.49 billion in the month of July 2020. UPI saw 822 million transactions in July 2019, indicating exponential growth during the last year. Similarly, the amount of money transferred in July 2020 was up to 2.9 trillion Indian Rupees, while July 2019 saw only 1.46 trillion Rupees.
As of July 2020, UPI reports services at 164 banks across India. With service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, UPI is lengthening its reach and its impact on the financial marketplace of India.
Looking to the Future
Looking forward, COVID-19 has provided a new opportunity for UPI and digital banking in general. India wants to decrease the amount of physical currency in circulation, and the pandemic has shown many people the virtues of online banking. For example, young adults wary of infecting their older parents have helped an older generation get on UPI and utilize everything it has to offer.
UPI’s recent boom focuses back to the platform’s original goal: creating an even playing field for all people, regardless of background or socioeconomic status. In 10 or 20 years, it would not be surprising to see all banking conducted virtually. Therefore, it is crucial to create a solid infrastructure that eliminates a system of preferential treatment based on wealth. UPI is helping to fight that fight.
– Evan Kuo
Photo: Flickr
Advancements in Police Reform in India
In January 2020, protests over a citizenship law targeting Muslims ravaged India’s streets. The Citizenship Amendment Act uses religion as a gateway to citizenship in India for illegal immigrants. However, not all religions are created equal in the eyes of the Indian Parliament: the bill favors South Asia’s major religions except for Islam, even though Muslims comprise 14.2% of India’s population. The bill created outrage throughout India’s Muslim population, leading the nation’s police to detain protesters and rioters in often forceful ways. Regulations and NGO movements are emerging to help decrease cruelty in India’s police system. Here are three actions advancing police reform in India.
Media Outlets
When the Citizenship Amendment Act protests and riots occurred, media outlets extensively covered these events. Their coverage helped to expose the bill’s injustices as well as police abuse. In an interview with the BBC, one family had a platform to share their son’s tragic story: “My son started running when he saw protests turning violent. He was shot in the stomach by police,” Muhammed Shareef stated. Shareef’s son, Raees, died three days later. The police denied the allegations. If the media had not illuminated Shareef’s story, fewer people would understand the severity of police violence in India. If this extensive media coverage continues, stronger advocacy and international awareness could be achieved.
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
NGOs have also become powerful in encouraging police reform in India. These groups hold significant influence in supporting policy implementation. For example, in 2016, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative focused its efforts on improving the relationship between citizens and police in India. NGO initiatives like these are proving effective: since 2016, the violent crime rate with police in India has dropped by 5.88%.
Indian Police Foundation
The IPF’s goal is to act as a primary force in improving the humanity of India’s police system. The organization researches constructive management tools, effective methods of combating police brutality and procedures for hiring responsible police officers.
The Future of Police in India
With robust initiatives like those that media outlets, NGOs and the IPF implement, police reform in India is on the horizon. Despite this progress, there remains a clear need for improvement: a study that the National Campaign Against Torture performed found that 1,731 people died in police custody in 2019, averaging to five deaths per day. Although the extent of their impact is still developing, NGOs are becoming a powerful voice for change. With these three groups advancing police reform in India, there is hope for saving lives and creating constructive police reform.
– Grant Ritchey
Photo: Flickr