Within the framework of SESRIC’s Agriculture and Food Security Capacity Building Programme (Agri-CaB), the Centre organised a Training Course on “Food Waste Reduction” on 10-12 August 2021 through an online video conferencing platform.

The training course was provided by competent experts from the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries of Malaysia, and the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp) under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government of Malaysia for the benefit of 78 experts from the relevant Ministries of 24 OIC member countries namely; Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Guyana, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Suriname, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia and Turkey.

The main objective of the training course was to provide insights on how to manage and control food losses and waste (FLW) along production and supply chains, including harvest, post-harvest, retail and consumption stages. Furthermore, the training course gave an overview of the Malaysian experience in converting food waste into compost and animal feed as well as touching upon strategies and awareness-raising programmes towards wiser use of resources and food sector sustainability.

During his welcoming remarks, H.E. Mr. Nebil DABUR, Director General of SESRIC, emphasised that food insecurity stands as a serious challenge to many countries around the world, including many of the OIC member countries. Therefore, efficient management and control of food loss and waste become, among others, a crucial issue to be considered in the efforts of the OIC member countries towards improving their state of food security level.

Furthermore, Mr. DABUR highlighted that pursuing joint action and demonstrating intra-OIC solidarity is needed more than ever before to create a broader impact, address the common challenges, and catch up with global developments. SESRIC spares no effort in facilitating the transfer of knowledge and experience among the OIC member countries through various south-south cooperation modalities, he added.

In his welcoming remarks, H.E. Dato’ Dr. Mohamad Zabawi ABDUL GHANI, Director General of MARDI, shed light on the importance of bringing together the broad spectrum of stakeholders, policymakers and partners involved in food loss and waste management to tackle the problems across food supply chains. He also stressed that a strong determination from the OIC member countries is needed to work together to ensure that relevant targets of the SDGs, especially target (12.3) that calls for halving per capita global food waste at retail and consumer levels, would be achieved by 2030.

Moreover, Dr. ABDUL GHANI expressed his gratitude for this collaboration opportunity with SESRIC and SWCorp and underscored that exchanging expertise, ideas and knowledge among counterparts could be used to develop better strategies in reducing FLW as well as to strengthen collaborations among the OIC member countries.

This training course was conducted in line with the virtual training solutions undertaken by SESRIC to better serve the Centre’s training activities and keep participants motivated and engaged during this challenging time of global crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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