Its goal is to reduce waste of 40 billion riyals annually
While food waste and wasteful consumption represent one of the challenges of the month of Ramadan, Saudi Arabia launched an awareness campaign to reduce waste and extravagance, which amounted to 40 billion riyals annually, and to raise society’s awareness in facing this phenomenon.
The “To Last” initiative launched by the Saudi Program for Loss and Waste Reduction at the beginning of Ramadan highlights the value and responsibility of preserving grace and reducing the food loss and waste index, which amounted to about 33 percent in Saudi Arabia. The program revealed that the campaign aims to encourage the preservation of the national food wealth, raise awareness of diseases resulting from food waste, use natural resources efficiently, and spread awareness of the importance of food diversification.
Abdul Rahman Al-Fadli, the Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, said that the high rates of food waste in Saudi Arabia represent a major challenge at the level of the economy, health and the environment, calling on everyone, via a tweet on Twitter, to maximize natural resources and estimate and identify needs without waste.
Immediately after its launch, the campaign witnessed a great interaction from members of society, government agencies, the private sector and associations, within the framework of shared social responsibility, which stems from a religious, societal and national perspective, while the campaign continues until the end of Ramadan.
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries record an increase in food expenditure rates, and according to a recent statistic, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia came at the forefront of the Arab countries that witnessed the highest monthly expenditure rates on food by families.
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