akistan has enough food to feed its people, but the poor cannot afford two square meals a day because edibles are regularly wasted and inappropriately managed.

According to data from the World Food Programme, more than a fifth of Pakistan’s population faces undernourishment, indicating a significant challenge in meeting basic dietary needs. Nearly half of children under the age of five in the country suffer from stunting, a consequence of prolonged malnutrition.

These statistics underscore the urgent need for comprehensive interventions to address food insecurity and malnutrition in Pakistan, particularly among vulnerable populations such as children.

The nutritional landscape has significantly regressed since the preceding nutritional survey of 2003, wherein a notable 50 per cent of the population was documented as food insecure. The current scenario, particularly in the province of Sindh, has witnessed a further exacerbation, with a discernible escalation in malnutrition and food insecurity among women and children.

Over the past four years, the average food price inflation has stood at 18 per cent exerting substantial pressure on the economic capacity of the impoverished, leading to a pronounced decline in their purchasing power.

Food sovereignty represents a multifaceted approach to addressing food waste challenges while promoting food sovereignty within communities. This initiative employs a holistic framework that integrates technological, social and environmental components to effectively repurpose food waste.

Recently, the parliament enacted legislation permitting a single-dish provision for wedding ceremonies. This legislative measure supersedes prior regulations, including a ban on food at weddings introduced during the tenure of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Before the enactment of the current bill, restrictions on food consumption during wedding events were present in various legal frameworks. While the policy aims to reduce food waste, it may inadvertently lead to more waste if guests are not satisfied with the limited food options provided, resulting in uneaten food being discarded. Enforcing the policy and ensuring compliance with the one-dish meal regulation at all weddings may pose logistical challenges and require significant oversight and monitoring efforts from authorities.

More than a fifth of Pakistan’s population faces undernourishment, indicating a significant challenge in meeting basic dietary needs. Nearly half of children under the age of five in the country suffer from stunting, a consequence of prolonged malnutrition.

Weddings are a significant source of revenue for caterers, vendors and other businesses involved in event planning. Limiting the number of dishes served could potentially reduce business opportunities and revenue for these stakeholders.

The problem of food waste at weddings and other social gatherings can be mitigated by taking the following steps:

Ban on extensive wedding feasts.

Educating people about food security.

Organising single-dish community dinners.

Distribution of packed food in boxes so that if they want, they can take it to their homes.

Food to be served at gatherings in portions.

Utilising composting as the primary means of food waste management.

Composting transforms food waste into a valuable resource, enriching soil composition to facilitate enhanced growth for diverse plant species, spanning fruits, vegetables, flowers and indoor foliage. Furthermore, opting for composting over conventional landfill deposition carries profound implications for mitigating the adverse impacts of global warming. In landfills, the decomposition of food waste generates methane emissions, a greenhouse gas exhibiting a staggering 72-fold potency compared to carbon dioxide. Thus, embracing composting methodologies serves as a pivotal mechanism for curbing methane release and, correspondingly, addressing the imperative challenge of climate change mitigation. BSI PAS 100 is an accredited compost. It is a chemical-free alternative, an amalgamate of food and garden waste.

Another step in food waste management is transforming carefully mixed food waste into biofuel through anaerobic digestion processes. This allows harnessing its full energy potential, generating both electricity and gas for the grid. This sustainable approach to recycling food waste prevents its harmful disposal in landfills, where methane emissions exacerbate environmental damage. Instead, specialised plants efficiently convert this waste into electricity and biogas, contributing renewable energy to the national grid. The end product of this process is a nutrient-rich digestate (potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus) that can be used as fertiliser.

We must take steps to protect public health. There is a need to effectively mitigate the problem of food waste as it gives rise to considerable food insecurity.

The writer is a freelance contributor