Food waste is main cause of global hunger, says UN agency official

IFAD President Gilbert F. Houngbo. (Photo courtesy IFAD)
Updated 17 September 2017
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Food waste is main cause of global hunger, says UN agency official

DUBAI: Food wastage, rather than a shortage of resources, is the key factor behind global hunger, according to the head of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Gilbert Houngbo, president of the UN agency, said there is more than enough food being produced to feed the world’s population of over 7 billion people.
Food waste does however represent a tragic loss of resources and should be addressed, Houngbo said in an interview with Arab News.
“The lack of food management and huge food wastage is creating a hungry population,” he said.
Food loss and wastage affects 40 percent or more of the total amount of food produced, he added.
Houngbo was speaking following the release of a UN report “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017,” released on Friday. He stressed the need to create awareness about food waste.
“We need to educate people. We need to find ways not only to produce food that is full of nutrition, but also to stop waste and bring about programs to teach people about how to value the food which is reaching... their tables.”
According to the UN report, global hunger is on the rise again, affecting 815 million people in 2016, or 11 percent of the global population.
That marked an increase of 38 million people compared to 2015, with the rise largely due to a proliferation of violent conflicts and climate-related shocks, the report said.
Asia has the largest share of hungry people with 520 million of the total, followed by Africa with 243 million and Latin America and the Caribbean with 42 million.
The number of children under five suffering from stunted growth stands at 155 million, while 52 million are underweight. The report also found that 41 million children under 5 are overweight, while 641 million adults are obese.
Houngbo said climate change has a direct impact on food production, which eventually increases the risk of food insecurity as well as malnutrition, particularly among children.
“If we look at what happened in the Americas in the last two weeks due to hurricanes, and the floods in South Asia, we can imagine what can happen to our crops, fisheries and livestock in just a few weeks, which means more hunger,” he said.
Houngbo said investment in rural areas was key given the high level of migration to urban areas.
“For me the major concern is that we should make lots of investment in villages so that people do not have to leave their homes in search of better quality of living. We should provide them quality of life in their villages,” he said.
Farmers need support, better facilities and direct access to the market, Houngbo added.
“They need our support for improved seeds, smart use of irrigation, technology, better infrastructure and facilities that give them better quality of life. Our challenge is that people should start taking agriculture seriously as a profitable business, and consider rural areas as a place to invest,” he said.
Out of 815 million hungry people on the planet, more than half lives in conflict zones, according to the UN report. Houngbo pointed to the dangers of food insecurity in societies. “The right to food is a basic right that every government has to provide its citizens. Hunger causes desperation and threatens social stability,” he said.
Houngbo is however optimistic about the future, saying that many countries have started realizing the importance of a strong agriculture industry.
“I am very optimistic because in recent years countries have started realizing that they can’t put all their eggs in one basket in the name of development and hence they have to diversify,” he said.
“Hence more and more countries are going back to the agriculture sector, which not only improves their exports but also makes sure that they have enough food for their citizens.”


Germany arrests three Ukrainians suspected of spying in exploding parcel plot

Updated 59 min 18 sec ago
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Germany arrests three Ukrainians suspected of spying in exploding parcel plot

BERLIN: Germany has arrested three Ukrainian nationals on suspicion of foreign agent activity linked to the shipment of parcels containing explosive devices, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The suspects are believed to have been in contact with individuals working for Russian state institutions, federal prosecutors said in a statement.


France says to expel Algerian diplomats in tit-for-tat move

Updated 14 May 2025
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France says to expel Algerian diplomats in tit-for-tat move

PARIS: France will expel Algerian diplomats in response to plans by Algiers to send more French officials home, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Wednesday, as relations between the countries deteriorate.
Barrot told the BFMTV broadcaster that he would summon Algeria’s charge d’affaires to inform him of the decision that he said was “perfectly proportionate at this point” to the Algerian move, which he called “unjustified and unjustifiable.”


Japanese military training plane crashes with two on board

Updated 14 May 2025
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Japanese military training plane crashes with two on board

TOKYO: A Japanese military training plane crashed shortly after takeoff, authorities said Wednesday, with reports saying two people were on board the aircraft which appeared to have fallen in a lake.
“We’re aware a T-4 plane that belongs to the Air Self-Defense Force fell down immediately after taking off at Komaki Air Base” in central Japan, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
“Details are being probed by the defense ministry,” he told reporters.
The T-4 seats two and is a “domestically produced, highly reliable and maintainable training aircraft... used for all basic flight courses,” according to the defense ministry website.
The aircraft was flying around Lake Iruka near Inuyama city north of Nagoya, according to media outlets including public broadcaster NHK.
“There is no sight of the plane yet. We’ve been told that an aerial survey by an Aichi region helicopter found a spot where oil was floating on the surface of the lake,” local fire department official Hajjime Nakamura told AFP.
He said his office had received unconfirmed information that there were two people on board but that they had not been able to independently verify this.
Aerial footage of the lake broadcast by NHK showed an oil sheen on its surface, dotted with what appeared to be various pieces of debris.
Just after 3:00 p.m. (0600 GMT) the local fire department received a call saying it appeared that a plane had crashed into the lake, the reports said.
The reports added, citing defense ministry sources, that the training plane had disappeared from the radar.
The defense ministry was not able to immediately confirm details to AFP.
Jiji Press said the local municipality had said there had been no damage to houses in the area.


Kabul says ready for ‘dialogue’ with US on Afghan refugees

Updated 14 May 2025
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Kabul says ready for ‘dialogue’ with US on Afghan refugees

  • Over 11,000 Afghans in the US risk deportation after losing temporary protected status this month
  • Many of them backed the US during the 20-year war in Afghanistan and fled in fear of the Taliban

KABUL: The Taliban government said Tuesday it was ready for “dialogue” with the Trump administration on the repatriation of Afghan refugees whose legal protections in the United States will be revoked in July.

Citing an improved security situation in Afghanistan, Washington announced Monday that the temporary protected status (TPS) designation for Afghanistan would expire on May 20 and the termination would take effect on July 12.

Kabul is “ready to engage in constructive dialogue with the US & other countries regarding repatriation of Afghans who no longer meet criteria to remain in host countries,” said Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on X.

The Taliban government has already offered assurances that those Afghans who fled the country as they stormed back to power in 2021 could safely return.

However, the United Nations has reported cases of executions and disappearances.

Taliban authorities have also squeezed women out of education, jobs and public life since 2021, creating what the UN has called “gender apartheid.”

The move by Washington could affect more than 11,000 Afghans, many of whom supported the United States during two decades of war and fled Taliban persecution, according to Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac.

“Afghanistan is the shared home of all Afghans, & all have the right to free movement,” Balkhi said in his statement.

The country has faced a major economic crisis since 2021 and is enduring the second worst humanitarian crisis in the world after Sudan, according to the United Nations.

More than 100,000 Afghans have returned home since neighboring Pakistan launched a new mass expulsion campaign in April.

More than 265,000 undocumented Afghans also returned from neighboring Iran between January and April, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

US federal law permits the government to grant TPS to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.

But since taking office President Donald Trump has moved to strip the designation from citizens of countries including Haiti and Venezuela as part of his broader crackdown on immigration.


US Republicans eye key votes on Trump tax cuts mega-bill

Updated 14 May 2025
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US Republicans eye key votes on Trump tax cuts mega-bill

WASHINGTON: Republicans geared up Tuesday for a series of crucial votes on Donald Trump’s domestic policy mega-bill, with rows over spending threatening to unravel the US president’s plans for sweeping tax cuts.
Three key House committees are slated to finalize and vote on their portions of Trump’s much-touted “big, beautiful” bill, led by a roughly $5 trillion extension of his 2017 tax relief.
Republicans are weighing partially covering the cost with deep cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program that benefits more than 70 million low-income people.
Before it can get to Trump’s desk, the package must survive votes of the full House and Senate, where Republicans have razor-thin controlling margins.
“The bill delivers what Americans voted for — tax policies that put working families first — and kick-starts a new golden era of American prosperity and strength,” said Jason Smith, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which is charged with drafting the tax proposals.
The marathon committee debates are expected to continue into the night and even spill into daytime Wednesday ahead of a make-or-break full House vote planned for next week.
If any of the committees fall short, the timetable for ushering in Trump’s priorities could be upended.
As the Republican billionaire seeks to cement his legacy with lasting legislation, every week is considered crucial ahead of 2026 midterm elections that could see his grip on the levers of power weakened.
But the package is threatened by bitter infighting, with conservatives angling for much deeper cuts and moderates worried about threats to health coverage.
Republicans plan to slash more than $700 billion from health care alone, which would leave several million people without coverage, according to a nonpartisan estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.
Democrats have angrily defended at-risk entitlements and hit out at tax cuts they say are a debt-inflating gift to the rich, funded by the middle class.
On the tax front, House Republicans released a nearly 390-page bill Monday detailing where they want to raise revenues to cover Trump’s promised extension of the expiring 2017 tax cuts.
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that this portion of the package will mean $3.7 trillion in lost revenue between 2025-2034, when savings in the text are taken into account.
The president appears on course to get most of what he wants — including a four-year pause on tax on tips, overtime and interest on loans for American-made cars.
There are big tax hikes on the endowments of wealthy colleges such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton, and an aggressive roll-back of Joe Biden’s clean energy tax credits.
But Republicans representing districts in high-tax states have rejected as too low a proposed increase in the relief they get in state and local taxes  from $10,000 to $30,000.
Democrats hosted a press event at the US Capitol to decry the proposed cuts ahead of the committee meetings, deploying a mobile billboard criticizing Republicans over the Medicaid proposals.
“Let’s be clear: There’s nothing moderate, efficient, or reasonable about Donald Trump and Republicans’ dangerous plans to gut health care and force kids to go hungry so they can fund tax handouts for billionaires,” said Democratic National Committee spokesperson Aida Ross.
Twenty-five activists were arrested outside one of the committee rooms for “illegally demonstrating,” the US Capitol Police told AFP.
“It is against the law to protest inside the congressional buildings,” the force said in a statement.