Packaging
PACK-IMA: More Technology, Safety & Quality, Less Hunger
Wednesday 25. March 2009 - On March 25th IPACK-IMA will host the international conference: Food processing from post-harvesting in developing countries up to the consumer
The current food crisis is one of todays most pressing problems. In spite of the recent decrease in world food prices, the majority of available data leads to think that prices in the next decade will be higher than the previous decade. According to FAO, today 963 million people all over the world suffer from hunger.
As a consequence, every factor that influences food preservation and distribution is of primary importance:
processing, sales facilities and especially packaging. Technological innovation in emerging countries can strengthen the food industry, contributing to reducing waste, ensuring safety and encouraging social development.
This is why IPACK-IMA has decided to organize a conference, covering the whole day on March 25th, to discuss the subject “More Technology, Safety & Quality, less Hunger”, in cooperation with Il Sole 24 Ore. The conference has the patronage of the Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy, the
Ministry of Economic Development and UN agencies FAO, UNIDO, WFP and IFAD.
The topics under debate will be the fight against world hunger, the funding of development and the opportunities created by new technology to face the food crisis. The conference will include speeches by experts, representatives of the UN and of the Italian Government including the Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy Luca Zaia and the Minister of Economic Development Claudio Scajola.
The topic will be introduced by the UN, which has developed a World Food Programme (WFP) to help those who suffer from hunger. The WFP is the worlds largest humanitarian organization, playing a front-line role in the fight against world hunger by providing food aids. The Organization carries out development and emergency projects in 80 countries.
The conference will then discuss technology as a key development factor in emerging countries, highlighting its role in social development. The causes for food scarcity involve several areas and require a diversified response: reduction of local and international market barriers and improving the productive capacity of those countries affected by world hunger, increasing the income pro capita.
According to Unido (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), food crisis cannot be treated as a humanitarian emergency only. There is a tight relationship between the food industry, agriculture and poverty. Therefore, in order to face the food crisis effectively, any action must take into account promoting agricultural trade and food industry, to promote a sustainable industrial growth on the long term, stabilize food availability and reduce poverty in developing countries. In addition, it is necessary to enforce the regulations on food preservation and distribution (processing, packaging, sales facilities) also in developed countries. This will lead to a reduction in post-harvesting waste and help development.
Although at present there is no reliable data on post-harvesting loss available, according to Unido sources the waste can reach 60% of the total production of fruit and vegetables and 20-40% of wheat in emerging countries. Post-harvesting loss varies from 35% to 50% of total production in sub-Saharan countries, which equals to over 100 million tons of wasted food every year. Some researches show that a 15 to 20% loss of wheat globally is a realistic estimate. If food loss could be reduced only of 5% and access to food was made easier, millions of people would not suffer from the current food crisis.
The development of the food industry and of agricultural trade, with particular reference to packaging, is an essential factor in preserving food resources, reducing after-harvest loss, allowing for products to be transported over greater distances generating demand for agricultural products (including the accessibility of export markets). A more efficient food industry can thus boost the growth of agriculture and, by creating a strong relationship with land owners, reduce poverty.
After these major subjects have been thoroughly discussed, the conference will focus on financing the development of agriculture and the related processes. This is a highly complex subject given the diversification in agricultural practices. In his speech, Senior Professor Mario Masini from SDA Bocconi will underline the profound differences existing between traditional food offer and specialized cultures based on biotechnology, and between high-quality, niche cultures and strategic production. These comparisons will show the great opportunity to differentiate investments for banks and other financial intermediaries, both in developing and developed countries.
The next speech will be by a representative from IFAD, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, a worldwide financial institution and one of UNs specialized agencies; IFAD has the objective of eliminating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. The speech will focus on the importance of economic aids to the food industry in developing countries. IFAD was established to fight the onset of hunger and famines killing thousands of people in Africa and Asia at the beginning of the 70s. It has been effective since 1978 and since then it has been granting poor countries loans and donations to fund innovative agricultural and rural development projects.
IFAD aims at sustain agriculture and reduce poverty in emerging countries by aiding poor people from rural areas to increase food production and their income, proving that investing in small-scale agriculture promotes economic growth and reduces poverty. The increase in gross domestic product generated by the food industry has been shown to be four times more effective in improving the life of the poorer segments of the population compared to the growth generated by any other industry.