Food Wastage in Malaysia
In Malaysia, we hear “Sudah Makan?” meaning “have you eaten?” all the time. So that’s how Food is a part of our life.
Malaysia is a lucky country in terms of food supply.
Generally speaking, Food is available here, and people are not really dying because of hunger.
As per Global Hunger Index, Malaysia has a moderate hunger rate with a score of 13.3; out of 117 countries, Malaysia’s ranking is 57th.
But not necessarily everyone is getting enough food for them.
- 16,688 Tonnes of Food Waste in Malaysia, 44.5% from Household.
- 12 Million People could Fed Three Times Daile with The Wasted Food
- Food Waste Rises 15% to 20% During Festive Seasons
- Among Solid Waste from Landfill- 55% contains food waste
- 24% or, 4,005 Tonnes of food waste is edible, that can fed 2,970,000 people for a day.
Food wastage in Malaysia is a controllable yet an expanding problem.
The Amount of food People throw away daily in Malaysia is enough to feed 12 million people a day- As per deputy chief executive officer Mohammad Diah Wahari of Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp).
Thus, Lockdown or Movement control order affecting food wastage everywhere.
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As per a news in Malay Mail in October 2020, after Movement Control order food wastage decreased. |
This indicates as people are going out less, they are wasting less. So that means this problem is solvable.
Landfills are filling
Yes, many could say – “Currently, landfills have enough space, so this is not a major problem for now. However, we have many other urgent issues to resolve.”
The truth is Landfills are filling up fast in Malaysia. Your present influences your future; for example, how you maintain your lifestyle will affect your health condition. In an identical way, how are you supporting your food wastage that will reflect a more profound result in the future.
If we want to give a better world to our next generation, we have to reduce food waste.
We will discuss two methods to control this problem:
Command and Control Policies
Market Based Policies:
Reference:
- https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/10/20/as-cmco-returns-so-does-food-waste/1914411
- https://pppp.my/malaysian-food-waste.html
- https://www.globalhungerindex.org/malaysia.html#:~:text=In%20the%202020%20Global%20Hunger,See%20overview%20of%20GHI%20calculation%5D.
- https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2020/10/633738/swcorp-food-waste-drops-during-mco-rises-again-soon-after#:~:text=Food%20wastage%20is%20a%20perpetual,waste%20generated%20in%20Malaysia%20daily.
Written By: Sharmin Rahman
Edited By: Alimul khadem
Photo Credit: Oleg Magni & Emmet
