Food is essential for human growth and development. However, not everyone around the world has reliable access to it.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, an estimated 828 million people globally suffer from hunger.

In response to this pressing issue, the United Nations established Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2), which aims to end hunger, reduce food insecurity, and improve nutrition by 2030.

However, a study by the Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness, and Extension at KNUST has revealed that restaurants in Kumasi waste approximately 320 metric tons of edible food each year, valued at over US$2 million.

The research, published in Elsevier involved 120 restaurants.

The study also identified the main food waste management practices adopted by these restaurants, which include disposal, source reduction, and reuse, particularly through donations to livestock producers for animal feed production.

Led by Dr. Seth Etuah, the researchers proposed several recommendations to address the issue of food waste.

These include maintaining accurate records of daily food demand to reduce overproduction, encouraging customers to take home leftover food at a minimal charge, and investing in backup energy sources such as generators or solar panels to counter the effects of frequent power outages on food storage.