A new year resolution!

2021 has been a turning point, for several reasons. It has showed that human resolve, Innovation and medical advancements can do for the collective good. From extreme weather, to fighting the unknown virus and its variants, rolling out of vaccines in record speed, we have successfully crossed road humps. 2021 also saw strides in collective pledge by all Organisations and Governments to battle Climate change.

Of all the Global sustainability development goals charted out by World Economic Forum, most Banks and Insurers are setting out action plans, with technology at the forefront to build a greater future. One that needs more innovation is in the second Goal of ‘Zero Hunger’.

Hunger is the leading cause of death in the world. Our planet has provided us with tremendous resources, but unequal access and inefficient handling leaves millions of people malnourished. Promoting sustainable agriculture with modern technologies, fair distribution systems and reducing food waste are key to sustain World’s population and making sure no one dies of hunger ever again.

Food wastage is an aspect where there is more opportunity for innovation and technology to make a mark.  

Nature of the problem:

Between 33-50% of all food produced globally is never eaten, and the value of this wasted food is worth over $1 trillion. 3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year, across the world, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. While there is a perception that hunger remains a ‘developing world problem’ – it’s a widespread issue; 1 in 9 people in the World today are starving or malnourished. In UK alone, over 1 million accessed the food bank in 2020.

The extent of this problem, while creating an imbalance in equal access to food, which is a basic human necessity, also is increasing the landfill due to waste disposal challenges and Businesses are spending roughly 4-5% of their turnover on waste disposal.

Hospitality industry, supply-chain deficiencies are the main causes, besides domestic wastage. On an average, 13% if edible food and drinks produced by an average household is never consumed – in UK alone this translates to £540 per household per year.

Some solutions to the problem:

Food waste needs to be curbed at source (being smarter in food transport and storage) and at consumption (domestic and hospitality where surplus needs to be shared).

At source, producers tend to discard food due to surplus, which leads to drop in demand and therefore prices and shoddy transport, storage to reach the consumers. This whole end to end journey is ripe for re-inventing. In TCS, our researchers are working on combining digital twin technology with food science, IoT and AI based sensors to monitor and predict quality of food. Kenya’s Twiga foods and Ghana’s Cheetah are similar innovative ventures where farmers can use technology to ensure either their produce reaches right consumers at the right price or even the right transport, thereby arresting the waste at source. TCS’ mKrishi in India, Berlin based startup Plantix are some examples of how technology is aiming to stop farmers to stop good produce from being wasted when farmer presumes them to be damaged, or when farmers need remote assistance on their crops.

At consumption, key is to understand why and how food is wasted. US based Winnow is deploying AI to help commercial kitchens in analysing their waste using smart sensors attached to waste bins. Similarly, London headquartered Greyparrot has developed a AI powered waste management system.

Incentives for corrective action:

Incentives have always been easier way to nudge people towards the right behaviours. There is an opportunity with Banks, Insurance companies to make prevention of food waste more mainstream in their Sustainability goals.

Health, Protection insurers have an opportunity to collaborate with such tech startups and nudge their customers towards inculcating food waste prevention technology into day to day lives. Most Health insurers have turned the dial on Physical wellbeing to nudge customers towards healthier lifestyle, more steps in a day, more activity which leads to optimised premium, reward points and so on. Can the same incentivisation be applied for reducing food wastage? Can we all have a food-index attached so that our procurement-to-consumption is maintained in balance? Can every household be incentivised by local Councils to reduce wastage through AI powered technology in our bins?

At the dawn of a new year, it is an opportunity for us all to think how we can make small, sustained tweaks in our lives – to ensure we waste-less, waste-nothing. Let us ensure we create equal accessibility in food across the World – afterall it’s the basic inclusivity; immaterial of where we are and who we are. Let us make this our new year’s resolution.