MY TWEETCHAT ON UTILIZING WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES TO IMPROVE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM

Agro Latest Chat Tweetchat Poster

In February 2019, I was a guest of My Farm Base Africa's Agro Latest Chat series, to discuss how we can utilize waste management practices to improve sustainability of the global food system. My Farm Base Africa is an agriculture-technology enterprise that leverages digital technology to bridge the information gap in agriculture (farm management, agrifinancing, and post-harvest technology). Below are the questions and my answers for the segment.

Q1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

A1. Thanks for inviting me as a guest for your tweetchat. My name is Adesuwa Obasuyi (MSc Environmental Quality Management), I work as the Operations Manager @sawi_env & I am an Ambassador for @TeachSDGs, a Climate Ambassador, @Y2YWBG, a City Organizer for @CEClub & a Country Rep for @AfriCANCircular. I volunteer for a whole lot of causes and I am very passionate about environmentalism, youth involvement and the SDGs.

Q2: Can you briefly tell us about waste management practices and how it's applicable to food sustainability?

A2. According to the FAO, around 30% of global food production is lost or wasted annually. Waste management practices are activities and actions that are required to manage waste from inception to final disposal, waste management practices in the agricultural sector include: source reduction, production of animal feeds, organic fertilizer (or, and waste-to-energy (WTE) processes. When the food chain is properly managed and these waste management practices put in place, then we can achieve food sustainability, achieving ecosystem balance in addition to recovering energy and other resources.

Q3: What are the factors hindering proper waste management practices in Nigeria and Africa at large and how do we solve them?

A3. To answer this question, I will just state some of the factors and how I think they can be solved with regards to food waste.

Lack of food waste data/inaccurate data management tools for reporting: As it is often stated “whatever cannot be measured cannot be managed”, knowing exactly how much waste is produced and managing this information can enable us understand what is happening at every step in the supply chain, this will go a long way in identifying opportunities to make a difference.

The throw-away culture: A reason why we waste unsold/excess food in Nigeria is that we don’t have established & active food collection centres/food banks (except in Lagos) like they do in saner climes, some people may have food to give out but do not know where to take it to. This is one aspect of social services that CSOs, NGOs & individuals can look at.

Inefficiency in food supply chain management: The supply chain system in Nigeria is shaky at its best, there are not enough storage facilities and poor transport links to markets and processing plants, allowing for a lot of food waste. To solve this, the government has to step-up its game in optimizing the food supply chain and encourage research, innovation and the use of technology in the agricultural sector.

No control of amount of food waste going to our dumpsites: Food waste in dumpsites has a lot of economic and environmental impact which some citizens are yet to realize, opportunities in reducing, reusing and recycling food waste must be identified and taken advantage of.

Others are: poor technological improvements and innovations, inadequate investment in the waste management sector, and poor regulations and policies.

Q4: How can farmers utilize waste management practices to improve food sustainability?

A4. Farmers can utilize waste management practices to improve food sustainability mainly through using agricultural waste as organic fertilizer and soil amendment, as animal feed, and for energy production. Farmers can also sell (waste-to-wealth) the bio-fertilizer, biogas, animal feed and they can use funds generated to purchase solar dryers to dry their products and add value to what they produce. However, this calls for a greater awareness of the public and farmers of the benefits of proper management and utilization of organic wastes in agriculture.

Q5: How can waste management be improved in food processing industries?

A5. The waste that comes from food processing industries is usually food waste and this is a resource that can be harnessed by these industries. Instead of using high emission fuels like diesel, these industries can recover clean energy from the food waste that powers their processes.

Q6: How can we achieve Global Food Security through Sustainable Development of Agriculture and Food Systems with Regard to Waste Management?

A6. A good way will be to embrace a circular model economy model in agriculture so that waste management practices can be optimised. The entire food supply chain needs energy, it is one of the biggest enablers of agriculture. This clean energy which can be gotten from agricultural waste, can be used to power processes in the entire food supply chain such as transportation, production etc. Then again, ICT can be utilised to ensure that there is less waste (such as paper) generated in the supply chain. Bio-fertilizers (an off-shot of waste) is also utilized. This ensures that the food system is sustainable.

Q7: Can you suggest ideas to save the global food system?

A7. Collaboration: Issues of food insecurity across the globe cannot be solved by government or ministries of agriculture alone because agriculture is the engine that can drive development. For sustainability of food systems, functioning policies play a huge role and harmonization of policies is key, the agricultural policies must reconcile with financial, energy, trade etc. policies.

Advocacy: Individual volunteers and advocacy groups can leverage on social media and other platforms to organise outreach programmes which will create more awareness on and promote reduction in food waste. Collaterals can also be placed in eateries and public places discouraging food waste. School clubs can be established as a means of “catching them young” and encouraging students, staff and canteen operators to reduce food waste and also segregate food waste; the segregated food waste can be composted or recycled with their involvement. Smart food purchase, storage and preparation habits should be encouraged where everyone plays an active role and people are motivated to reduce food waste.

Recycling: The culture of recycling food waste should be adopted. The first step will be to adopt waste sorting at source because it is less efficient to recycle comingled waste. Food waste can be composted, converted to animal feed, and energy (biomass, methane etc.) can also be recovered from food waste at waste-to-energy (WTE) plants as I have mentioned earlier.

Q8: You are the Climate Ambassador @Y2YWBG. What are your roles?

A8. Climate change is the defining issue of our generation and therefore as a Climate Ambassador, I advocate for the climate change cause. In collaboration with other Ambassadors, I develop and implement initiatives to raise awareness and mitigate climate change.

Q9. What is your best hobby?

A9. I enjoy playing board games especially Scrabble, Monopoly and Chess; if you know anyone who plays scrabble extremely well, I guarantee you that I can beat that person. I also play poker, I love cooking, watching movies and taking evening walks (if I have the time).

Q10. What would you do when you are not working?

A10. A whole lot of other stuff…I cook, clean, watch movies, play music, catch up on gist from family and friends etc.

Click this link to view the tweetchat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyfarmBase/status/1093207911961108482?s=19