Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s top food waster according to an European Union statement reported by The Punch.
The statement comes amid the commemoration of the 2026 International Zero Waste Day tagged “Food Waste Reduction – minimization and valorization.”
According to Zissimos Vergos, Deputy Ambassador, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Nigeria wastes about 38 million tonnes of food annually. This places the country ahead of every other on the African continent.
Vergos noted that in 2022, nearly one billion tonnes of food representing almost 20% of all available food were wasted globally. He stressed that this is not just a loss of food but a squandering of precious resources. He added that this also leads to missed opportunities to combat hunger while threatening the planet’s health.
The Deputy Ambassador furthered that food waste represents major drivers of environmental degradation. Specifically, they contribute up to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions and almost 5x the emissions from the global aviation sector.
Consequently, the EU alongside the Federal Government have called for urgent actions to end food waste while promoting sustainable consumption.
- They stressed that food wastage usually translates to the overall waste of the water, energy, and labour involved in production. Hence, this further accelerates climate change and undermines global efforts for a zero-waste circular future.
