KENYA / WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY FOOD WASTE

Suzanna Owiyo, a UNEP National Goodwill Ambassador in Kenya has started an initiative known as Soko Bila Waste – Every Little Thing Count, aimed at sensitizing farmers, vendors and consumers about the importance of reducing food waste across the distribution chain. UNEP

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:20
• Production Date: 5 June 2013
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME - UNEP
• Subject Topical: NATURAL RESOURCES; ENVIRONMENT; ENVIRONMENT; AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; FISHING; FOOD INDUSTRY; NUTRITION
• MAMS Id: U130605e

Description

STORY: KENYA / WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY FOOD WASTE
TRT: 1.20
SOURCE: UNEP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 5 JUNE 2013, MARIKITI WHOLESALE MARKET, NAIROBI, KENYA

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, Marikiti Market
2. Various shots, vegetables being unloaded
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Gilruth, Director, Division of Early Warning and Assessment, UNEP:
“Our big message here is to have people understand, particularly from the buying and selling community, of the importance of food wastage and the things they can do to minimize the amount of food loss.”
4. Close up shot, tomatoes for sale at the market
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Gilruth, Director, Division of Early Warning and Assessment, UNEP:
“Oftentimes when we go to food we think about eating first, but actually we need to think what is going on behind the production of the food, the selling of the food and once we understand that we can make some choices that are a little bit wiser in terms of saving food, saving the environment and Marikiti here is really the best opportunity in Nairobi because it’s the biggest market, so many people, so much opportunity. “
6. Med shot, vegetable sellers
7. Med shot, visiting dignitaries
8. Med shot, produce truck
9. Various shots, visiting dignitaries

Storyline

Food waste and loss around the world has reached epidemic proportions. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that a third of global food production is either wasted or lost, an enormous drain on natural resources and the environment.

To address the problem, Suzanna Owiyo, a UNEP National Goodwill Ambassador in Kenya has started an initiative known as Soko Bila Waste – Every Little Thing Count, aimed at sensitizing farmers, vendors and consumers about the importance of reducing food waste across the distribution chain.

SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Gilruth, Director, Division of Early Warning and Assessment, UNEP:
“Our big message here is to have people understand, particularly from the buying and selling community, of the importance of food wastage and the things they can do to minimize the amount of food loss.”

The Initiative supports UNEP’s global food waste campaign, “think Eat Save - Reduce your Foodprint’. On this year’s World Environment Day, Soko Bila Waste invited prominent Kenyan politicians and entertainment and media personalities to Nairobi’s Marikiti Wholesale Market for a day of vending and clean up exercises. Participants traded places with vendors as a way of educating both sellers and consumers how to avoid wasting food, reducing people’s food-related environmental impact and improving food security.

SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Gilruth, Director, Division of Early Warning and Assessment, UNEP:
“Oftentimes when we go to food we think about eating first, but actually we need to think what is going on behind the production of the food, the selling of the food and once we understand that we can make some choices that are a little bit wiser in terms of saving food, saving the environment and Marikiti here is really the best opportunity in Nairobi because it’s the biggest market, so many people, so much opportunity. “

Fresh produce that remain unsold at the end of the market day is often thrown away or left to rot, clogging landfills and attracting vermin. Wasting food has a dramatic impact on hunger and poverty, nutrition, income generation and economic growth across the globe.