(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Sanaullah Ataullah |The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Hifz Al Naema Centre, the largest social initiative to reduce food waste in Qatar, collected 470,000 surplus meals from restaurants and banquettes and distributed them to needy families and workers in 2023.
The initiative is contributing greatly in the state's ambitious programme to reduce food loss and waste throughout the supply chain and at household for sustainability.
“The number of only surplus meals collected by the centre and distributed to needy people was 470,000 in 2023,” said Director of Hifz Al Naema Centre, Ali Ayed Al Qahtani.
Speaking to Qatar TV recently, he said the centre also collected tonnes of vegetables, meat, canned foods and distributed them as food baskets among the beneficiaries.
“The centre, established in 2018, is operating with 15 vehicles and over 30 employees. It extended its service to shopping complexes, hypermarkets, restaurants and banquettes among other similar activities,” said Al Qahtani.
He added:“We cover 36 locations in Doha for collecting surplus meals. The number of distribution points in and around Doha has reached over 30.” As many as 254,266 families and workers received the surplus meals provided by the centre last year. The centre approaches philanthropists across the country through its hotline No. 44355555. Banquet organisers are required to inform the centre through its hotline. In response, it dispatches vehicles to collect the surplus foods.
Hifz Al Naema Centre is a service and awareness-raising social centre, which aims to optimise existing resources and capital that would have otherwise been thrown away.
These resources instead of being thrown into landfills, are reused to meet the needs of needy people and to educate the rich on the hazards of food waste as well as to protect the environment.
With a noble vision of a waste-free Qatar, the centre has prioritised finding alternative and sustainable waste management practices through redistribution and reuse.
It is raising awareness about responsible food consumption, reinforcing charitable giving and empathy between different social classes and promoting sustainable practices to alleviate the burden of waste management on the environment.
Meanwhile, in a bid to reduce food waste, the Ministry of Municipality is preparing to launch a nationwide project for measuring food loss and waste throughout the supply chain and at household, said an official.
“We conducted a survey on a small scale in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - West Asia Office to assess the situation of food waste in the country,” said Director of the Food Security Department at the Ministry of Municipality, Dr. Masoud Jarallah Al Marri.
Speaking to The Peninsula, he said The project will be implemented in cooperation with Qatar University to find the baseline and sources of food waste during production, storage, consumption, and at household level. Al Marri said the survey will find out what types of food commodities are being wasted the most.
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