Page 7 - U4SSC Case study: Reducing food waste, June 2020

Case Study 1 – Mumbai, India: Roti Bank (Food Bank)

Author:

Vimal Wakhlu

Introduction

Background

Globally, one in nine people in the world today (815 million) are undernourished. A vast majority
of the world’s hungry people live in developing countries, where 12.9 per cent of the population is
undernourished. Southern Asia faces the greatest hunger burden, with about 281 million undernourished
people. In sub-Saharan Africa, projections for the 2014-2016 period indicate an undernourishment rate
of almost 23 per cent. Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45 per cent) of deaths in children under five –
3.1 million children each year. One in four of the world’s children suffer stunted growth. In developing
countries, the proportion can rise to one in three. Sixty-six million primary school-age children attend
classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone.

The Effects of Chronic Hunger: Chronic hunger – or food insecurity – is as devastating to families,
communities and countries as famine. Chronic hunger claims more victims than famine each year – by
far. Effects of chronic hunger include:

• high infant mortality rates;

• vulnerability to common illnesses;
• increased risk of infection;

• acute vulnerability in times of disaster;
• impediments to development; and

• impediments to economic growth.

The former United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, launched the Zero Hunger Challenge in
1
2012 during the Rio+20 World Conference on Sustainable Development. The Zero Hunger Challenge
2
was launched to inspire a global movement towards a world free from hunger within a generation.
It calls for:

• zero stunted children under the age of two;
• 100% access to adequate food all year round;

1 https:// www .un .org/ zerohunger/
2 https:// sustainabledevelopment .un .org/ rio20

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