In its efforts to reduce food loss and waste, the National Food Loss and Waste Initiative (Ne’ma), was introduced. this initiative is partnership between The Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court, the Emirates Foundation, and the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. Still this initiative faces significant obstacles in the form of cultural norms and consumer behaviour.
It is built on five pillars: awareness, behavioural change, policy review and management, cross-sector collaboration, and direct reduction.
Food waste is a significant issue in the UAE, but a lot of it is caused by common daily behaviours. If local consumers are willing to change their behaviour, a lot can be done.
Consumer behaviour and mentality are difficult to change, so it should be supported by policy interventions. odd-looking fruits and vegetables are a significant source of food waste. If they were required to be sold for less, there would be a market and they wouldn’t go to waste. There is also a strong potential for businesses like hospitals, manufacturers, or restaurants to purchase more of these on a larger scale.
During festival and parties, it is very common to purchase foods and drinks in bulk but the products are not finished or used up, and eventually they spoiled and need to be thrown away.
Due to the underlying challenges currently present, Ne’ma is working to establish a national baseline from which to measure food loss and waste, as well as raising awareness as major drivers. We are encouraging as many participants in the Emirates as possible to sign up and pledge to reduce food loss and waste, whether this is through raising awareness, aiding with research and policy review, redistributing and donating surplus food, creating new technology, or other ways.