Food Wastage and Supply Chain Intervention in India

Proj. Nilanjan Banik

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Public Policy Making

Submitted by: Navya Singhal (2016IPM065)

Introduction

Food wastage is a modern-day curse of our consumer society. Food waste is described as ‘food
that is discarded or lost uneaten’. It has become an important topic as with increase in scarcity of
resources, and increase in greenhouse emissions, efficient supply chain interventions are required
to curb this menace. The agricultural setup in India is segmented leading to problems in
consolidation for making a formal supply chain management system. The political environment
surrounding agriculture has always made it a central focus of discussion. With a variety of
schemes and policies being rolled out, the inefficiency in its implementation has marred the
effort in this sector constantly. Food wastage in India is a problem rising due to poor
infrastructure, lack of electricity, shortage of storage facilities, and asymmetry of information in
an uncoordinated market. Apart from the food loss between farm and market, the wastage in
weddings, hotels, social events, and households in total account for 40% of the food wasted in
India. Only 15% of the solid waste generated is being processed or treated as per the data of
Central Pollution Control Board.

According to agriculture ministry in India, INR 50,000 crores worth of food produced is wasted
every year in the country. In a country with 195.9 million undernourished people, and 23.4% of
world’s hungry, food wastage is a problem demanding immediate solution. More than 25% of
fresh water used in the production of this food is going to waste, and acres of land being
deforested to grow crops is rendered useless due to unsustainable practices. Nearly 400 million
barrels of oil used for preparation of food is ultimately wasted. FAO released the report where if
1/4th of the global food wastage is curbed, it could be useful in feeding almost 900 million
hungry people at the same time. Many restaurants in India have started to take notice of this
problem to check for spoilage of food, and create distribution channels to avoid the same.
Immediate government action to reduce wastage during transit, increasing storage facilities, food
processing and defining sink for excess food is required.
The way out

For proposing solution for this problem shall entail defining various stakeholders and
interventions at each level. With the mandate beginning from the government, to local
restaurants, companies and industry to individuals, the food wastage problem needs to be tackled
from various ends. With innovative solutions proposed by various startups in India, the time lag
in government policy implementation can be effectively bridged and individual awareness can
help in significantly tackling the problem.

Intervention 1: Government Level

The complex nature of politics surrounding agriculture in India require in depth knowledge of
the food wastage problem to have an effective policy intervention. The fragmentation in the
agriculture sector due to labor and contract laws inhibit contract farming methods making long
term partnerships almost impossible. Enabling large sector private entities to engage their
expertise in supply chain management shall go a long way in reducing the system inefficiencies.
Reducing the insulation from the export market shall provide a sink for the excess produce
without causing burden on the storage facilities in India. It not only helps in obtaining a higher
price for the produce but also acts as a quality check. To address the problem of collusion among
middlemen, mobile based information shall help in providing daily market updates from the
nearby markets. E.g. A service, e-choupal, launched by ITC has integrated several kiosks which
supply the daily price information with text based mechanism for delivery of information to
reduce price fluctuation.

Mandatory laws for the retailers to adopt technologies to provide monetary incentive for clearing
the perishable products from the market close to their expiry date. With the model followed by
DMart in India, we could effectively reduce food wastage while maximizing revenue.

In the end, the problem of corruption can be tackled by increasing accountability at Food
Corporation of India (FCI) through regular audits and RTIs by the farmers. Low cost technology
to track information at the most low level of the supply chain shall be instrumental in reducing
information asymmetry.

Intervention 2: Industry Level

‘Urban household generate over 6 crore tonnes of garbage each year where almost 85% of it
could have been recycled’(1). As most of it eventually ends up in the landfills causing air, water
and soil pollution. While there is widespread environmental damage from poor waste
management, there lies an opportunity to bridge the gap. The market for waste management shall
amount to approximately $14 billion in the coming years. It is inevitable that the private players
step up to fill the gap that is left in government policies by having more public-private
partnerships to building a landfill free future.
  ‘Saahas Zero Waste’ is a Bengaluru based startup that prevents 15,000 tonnes of food
waste from ending up in the landfills. With the methods of waste segregation, reducing,
and recycling, 25 tonnes of waste is reused on a daily basis.
 GPS Renewables, Bangalore based company, is involved in turning the kitchen waste
into biogas. With their project ‘BioUrja’, the traditional problem of high fixed cost of
biogas generation has been solved by providing a ‘plug-and-play’ solution. The system
processes almost 600kgs of food waste every day.
 Follow the model being practiced in France by mandating supermarkets to give unsold
food to charity or reuse it as fertilizer during food production.
 Usage of Nano technology to prevent spoilage of food and keeping produce fresher for a
long time by increasing its shelf life in adverse climatic conditions in India.
 ‘Fridge of kindness’ initiative can be opened by various food outlets to provide direct
access point for the wasted food to the hungry at the site without extra cost. This can also
be integrated with the brand marketing techniques to be mutually beneficial for the
business and people.

Intervention 3: Individual Level

The first step towards reducing food wastage is to generate awareness regarding the same among
people with access to these resources. Optimal usage and conscious planning of the meals shall
prevent the wastage of more than 20% of the house hold items that are thrown without
consumption. Adoption of practices like cooking at home, selecting non-perishable items, and
donation of leftover food to the NGOs shall help in completing the supply chain. E.g. Feeding
India, NGO started in 2014, believes in ‘feeding mouths, not bins’. Setting collection points from
homes and other social outlets, redistribution channels are setup to provide the needy, free of
cost food. Another intervention replicable in India from US could be setting up of ‘Food Cams’
to post updates about leftover food in a workspace where anyone can claim to eat it on a first
come first serve basis from the building.

Conclusion

The need of the hour is to reach out to such startups to increase their impact perimeter and
increase general public awareness. With the help of stringent laws passed from the government,
waste management in collaboration with the private sector could go a long way. Devising
effective policies shall help in plugging the gaps in the supply chain and contribute towards
sustainable development. Big and small efforts shall help in increasing the overall effectiveness
of the initiative preventing almost 800 million people from facing hunger on a daily basis. We all
need to understand that this is a problem for all of us and the externalization of blame shall only
aggravate the situation. Food wastage is not something for the government or big corporations to
tackle alone but the responsibility lies with everyone.
References

1. (2017, November 8) Making the best out of waste: These 8 startups are helping Indian
cities manage trash. Retrieved from https://yourstory.com/2017/11/waste-management-
startups
2. Lucy Plummer (2017, May 4) As India Does Its Bit to Tackle Food Waste, Here’s What It
Can Learn From Other Countries! Retrieved from
https://www.thebetterindia.com/99033/food-waste-management-india-global-initiative/
3. CSR Journal (2019,January 25) Food Wastage In India, And What You Can Do About It
.Retrieved from https://thecsrjournal.in/food-wastage-in-india-a-serious-concern/

Appendix