Category Archives: Food and Nutrition

How to Reduce Food Waste in Ramadan: An Infographic

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The debate surrounding increased food waste generation during Ramadan has become a part of public discourse in Muslim communities worldwide. Almost one-fourth of the food purchased or prepared during Ramadan finds its way to trash bins. The staggering amount of food waste in Ramadan urgently demands a strong public-focused strategy for its minimization, sustainable utilization and eco-friendly disposal.  This infographic will provide more insights into the magnitude of problem and plausible ways to tackle it. Keep reading to know how to make your Ramadan eco-friendly.

Food Waste, Ramadan and the Middle East

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With the holy month of Ramadan already underway, huge food wastage in the Middle East is again hogging limelight. It is a widely accepted fact that almost half of the municipal solid waste stream in the Middle East is comprised of food wastes and associated matter. The increasing amount of food wastage in Ramadan urgently demands a strong and holistic food management strategy to ensure its minimization, ethical utilization and eco-friendly disposal.   Food Waste in Ramadan Middle Eastern nations are acknowledged as being the world’s top food wasters, and during Ramadan the situation takes a turn for the worse. In the … Continue reading →

Food Waste and the Spirit of Ramadan

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In recent years, enormous generation of food waste during the holy month of Ramadan has been a matter of big debate in Muslim countries and elsewhere. As per conservative estimates, around one-fifth of the food purchased or prepared during Ramadan finds its way to garbage bins or landfills. This translates into thousands of tons of precious food which could have been used for feeding tens of millions of hungry people in impoverished countries of Asia, Africa and elsewhere. The staggering amount of food waste generation during Ramadan urgently demands a strong strategy for its minimization, sustainable utilization and eco-friendly disposal. Gravity of … Continue reading →

النفايات الغذائية خلال شهر رمضان في الشرق الأوسط

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مع حلول شهر رمضان المبارك خلال الأيام القليلة القادمة، ضخمة الهدر الغذائي في منطقة الشرق الأوسط تخطف الأضواء مرة أخرى. بل هي الحقيقة المقبولة على نطاق واسع أن ما يقرب من نصف مجرى النفايات البلدية الصلبة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط ويتكون من النفايات الغذائية والمواد المرتبطة بها. كمية متزايدة من فضلات الطعام في الشرق الأوسط على وجه السرعة يتطلب استراتيجية قوية لإدارة النفايات الغذائية لضمان التقليل والتخلص بطريقه صديقة للبيئة. النفايات الغذائية في رمضان دول الشرق الاوسط اعترفوا انهم أعلى مبذرون غذاء في العالم، وخلال شهر رمضان الحالة يأخذ منعطفا نحو الأسوأ. في عام 2012، قدر أن بلدية دبي في … Continue reading →

Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Arab Countries

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Addressing water scarcity, both natural and human-induced, in the Arab region is considered one of the major and most critical challenges facing the Arab countries. This challenge is expected to grow with time due to many pressing driving forces, including population growth, food demand, unsettled and politicized shared water resources, climate change, and many others, forcing more countries into more expensive water sources, such as desalination, to augment their limited freshwater supplies. The heavy financial, economic, environmental, as well as social costs and burden to be borne cannot be overemphasized.   Furthermore, the water scarcity challenge in the Arab world is … Continue reading →

7 Types Of Sustainable Food Packaging

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Most of the food you buy and eat comes in a package. Therefore, packaging is an essential part of the food supply chain. But, a lot of it is made from plastic. Nowadays, people have begun to prioritize making the world greener as they’ve grown more conscious of the necessity of sustainability. This green movement includes making food packaging more environment-friendly through various methods, such as compostable packaging and many other forms listed below. While some progress is being made in terms of moving away from plastic, the said material is still widely used. There’s a long way to go. … Continue reading →

نصائح لتقليل النفايات الغذائية

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للنفايات الغذائية آثار بيئية واقتصادية واجتماعية أيضاً. إن ارتفاع معدلات الدخل والإنفاق الفردية، ومستوى المعيشة، والقدرة على الإنفاق، وسلوكياتنا في إهدار الطعام تؤثر سلباً على مواردنا المحدودة. فأصبح من الشائع أن نرى أكوام من الطعام المتبقي في أطباق الطعام في مراكز التسوق والمطاعم. وللأسف فإن القدرة على الإنفاق أدت إلى زيادة متسارعة في إنتاج وتراكم النفايات الغذائية في دول الشرق الأوسط عامة، وفي دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي خاصة. ويمكن قياس خطورة الوضع من خلال الحقائق التي تبيّن أنه يتم إنتاج أكثر من 300 طن من النفايات الغذائية يومياً في البحرين، مما يشكل حوالي 11% من النفايات البلدية. حيث يتم إلقاء … Continue reading →

Managing Food Waste at a Global Scale: Technologies and Strategies Transforming Organic Waste into Resources

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One-fifth of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, amounting to one billion meals a day and costing the global economy roughly US$1 trillion. These statistics give us valuable insight into the food waste crisis, demonstrating the importance of reducing waste to achieve greater sustainability and global food security. From turning food waste to energy to implementing circular economy frameworks, there are different approaches that businesses and governments can implement to reduce dependence on landfills. Keep reading to learn about the technologies and strategies driving this change. Key Technologies Driving Food Waste Transformation New technologies are constantly … Continue reading →

Cereal Supply Chain in the MENA Region

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The cereal supply chain in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is highly exposed to disruption risks due to vulnerabilities at both production and post-production stages. Inappropriate climate conditions, water scarcity, fragmented farm structure, insufficient access to input, and inappropriate use of arable land are some prominent production-related problems. On the other hand, high harvest-post-harvest losses, lack of storage capacity, heavy dependence on imports, and lack of investment in technology are among post-production vulnerabilities. The World Bank classifies MENA region as comprising 19 countries, spanning from the Atlantic Ocean (adjacent to Morocco) to the Arabian Sea (adjacent to Oman), … Continue reading →

Top 9 Veggie-friendly Countries for Students

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International scholarship trips and short-term internships have become the new reality. They are connected by a single goal – improving the quality of education, training valuable personnel, and developing international economic relations. For any young person studying or traveling abroad, comfortable accommodation, an opportunity to lead a familiar lifestyle and eat familiar food are of great importance. That is why it is essential for vegetarian students, and even more so for vegans, to know the gastronomic features of the country they study. Everyone knows that there are many so-called “meat-eating countries” where people consume a lot of meat and whose … Continue reading →

لماذا يعد التخلي عن تناول اللحوم أمرًا ضروريًا للتخفيف من آثار تغير المناخ

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استهلاك اللحوم هو عنصر أساسي في النظام الغذائي الحديث. في العالم المتقدم، كان استهلاك اللحوم في ارتفاع مستمر منذ عقود. في العالم النامي، يأكل الناس كميات أقل من اللحوم لأنهم لا يستطيعون تحمل تكلفتها الباهظة. إن حجم الاستهلاك العالمي للحوم له آثار بيئية خطيرة ويزيد من حدة تغير المناخ. وهذا يعني أن الإنتاج العالمي للغذاء مسؤول عن ثلث جميع غازات الاحتباس الحراري المنبعثة من النشاط البشري. لذلك، من المنطقي القول بأن العلاقة بين استهلاك اللحوم والآثار السلبية لتغير المناخ مثل الاحتباس الحراري هي شيء يجب استكشافه بعمق حتى نتمكن من فهم كيفية تقليل مخاطر الكوارث البيئية. علاوة على ذلك، يلعب … Continue reading →

How a Vegan Diet Can Drive Sustainability in the MENA Region

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The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) faces a stark paradox that becomes clearer every dry season: its population is young and expanding, yet its freshwater supply is disappearing faster than in any other region on Earth. Climate models warn that average summer temperatures could rise by another 4 °C by mid‑century, and renewable freshwater resources have already fallen to one‑tenth of the global average. Meanwhile, supermarket shelves in Cairo, Dubai, and Casablanca still overflow with imported beef, chicken, and dairy—foods that consume thousands of litres of water and depend on millions of tonnes of soy and maize shipped from abroad. This article examines … Continue reading →