Digitising food solutions
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) in cooperation with the Ministry of International Cooperation organised the First World Food Security Conference on 28-29 September.
The conference discussed three main pillars of agricultural technology and its role in enhancing food security and developing food supply chains, digitising social protection programmes and safety nets by following successful examples in other countries, and financial inclusion by applying innovative and modern financing with the aim of spreading this to support needy people in rural societies.
During the conference, projects supported by the WFP and other UN agencies were showcased, all aimed at digitising technical and financial assistance to farmers.
“Thousands of years ago, our ancestors, the ancient Egyptians, were able to store and supply food for everyone in the country. Now, 45 per cent of Egypt’s food is lost before it reaches the store shelves,” Farah Emara, co-founder of the food company Fresh Source, said, adding that 75 per cent of the problem was caused by middlemen.
Her company tries to reduce prices for consumers by reducing losses across the supply chain, saving money, food, and time. According to Emara, it has managed to reduce the 45 per cent food waste figure to only five per cent through its application.
Another company working on enabling farmers to access finance is Al-Mozare3. Hussein Abu Bakr, its founder and CEO, said there were several challenges facing farmers, including knowing what to grow and when and who to sell it to.
The prices of products also change rapidly, he said. Abu Bakr’s company signs contracts with exporters and give farmers their money through electronic cards or digital wallets. It buys seeds for farmers and finances activities and then buys their products.
WFP senior economist Arif Hussein stressed that the private sector should be encouraged to play a role in overcoming the present international crisis. “The world’s food exporters are small in number. When there is trouble, like wars, the pain is felt around the world,” he said.
There are currently 15 million people in 45 countries that are a step away from famine, he added. Egypt is not one of them, but it could not afford to be complacent, he said.
More than 20 per cent of children are malnourished in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region today. This was not just the result of food affordability, but also about food availability, said Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti World Bank Group Country Director Marina Wes, who stressed that the world should join efforts to put an end to malnutrition and famine in the region and elsewhere.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 6 October, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
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