Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that the industry stakeholders need to take a pledge for 'zero tolerance' on food wastage as today the entire GDP of Indonesia (close to USD 3,492 billion in PPP terms) is wasted. 

Speaking at the Launch of Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) Report on Fixing Asia's Food System organised by FICCI, Cargill and EIU, Badal added that in the coming years, India, China and Indonesia will set the food trends for the world and therefore there is a need for a body to represent the three countries that will collectively address the issue of fixing Asia's food systems in a holistic manner.

The report noted that the provision of energy-dense, nutritious, safe and affordable food in Asia which will be home to half of the world's urban population by 2030 is the challenge that China, Indonesia and India would have to face as these three counties will account for 75% of Asia's new urban dwellers, says the latest Economist Intelligence Unit report.

Presenting the EIU research findings,  Siraj Chaudhry, Chairman, Cargill India and former Chair of FICCI's Food Processing Committee said that the report gives the perspective of businesses on what the food scenario looks like in Asia.

The key megatrends are urbanisation, the double burden of under-nutrition and obesity, technology constraints, need for transparency and sustainability and politics, he added.

The report lists the opportunities and challenges for policymakers and the private sector in managing these trends.

These include defining food security more holistically to cope with structural changes in food demand and supply; predicting and anticipating the convergence of trends for early policy development, and assessing spill-over effects; enhancing national capacity in monitoring food system metrics and natural resources and strategizing by anticipating the convergence and divergence of trends in each market.

The research shows that business leaders overwhelmingly agree that there is cause for alarm around Asia's food security.

The solutions include greater collaboration to enforce food safety standards, educate farmers and improve supply chain infrastructure.

Yet a number of other factors-including differing regulations, border policies, import duties, taxes, food cultures, self-sufficiency programmes and uneven economic development-require more robust thinking and policy solutions for Asia's food system to truly make the needed progress, the report added.