For every five plates of food served around the world, roughly one ends up in the bin.
asserted
one → serve → bin
That adds up to more than a billion tonnes of food a year.
asserted
That → add → food
Meanwhile, 645 million people, about one in 13 of the world’s population, went hungry in 2025, according to the UN.
uncertain
people → go → UN
That gap is the focus of World Food Day on October 16, the annual UN observance marking the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945.
asserted
gap → mark → 1945
This year’s theme, “Innovate today, nourish tomorrow”, calls for food systems that feed more people and waste less.
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that → innovate → less
In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera looks at global hunger, which countries waste the most food and simple ways to waste less at home.
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countries → look → home
Hunger is falling, slowly
Global hunger has fallen for a third year in a row, but it remains above levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.
asserted
it → fall → pandemic
According to the UN’s annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, an estimated 645 million people, or 7.8 percent of the world’s population, faced hunger in 2025.
uncertain
people → accord → 2025
Africa has more hungry people than any other region.
asserted
Africa → have → region
In 2025, an estimated 309 million people in Africa were undernourished.
asserted
people → estimate → Africa
The 2026 Global Hunger Index shows a similar pattern at the country level.
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Index → show → level
The index scores countries out of 100, combining undernourishment with child stunting, child wasting and child mortality.
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index → score → stunting
Scores of 35 or more are considered “alarming”.
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Scores → consider → 35
Hunger is classed as alarming in eight countries, seven of them in Africa.
asserted
Hunger → class → Africa
Somalia has the worst score of the 122 countries ranked, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad and Madagascar.
asserted
Somalia → have → Congo
Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi and Yemen were also classed as alarming, but conflict and data gaps meant the index could not calculate their scores.
uncertain
index → class → scores
At the same time, a large share of the food the world grows never reaches a plate.
asserted
world → grow → plate
How much food is wasted every year?
asserted
food → waste → ?
Food is lost and wasted at every stage of its journey from farm to table.
asserted
Food → lose → table
According to the FAO, about 13 percent of the food produced globally is lost after harvest and before it reaches shops, spoiling in storage, during transport or in processing.
uncertain
it → accord → processing
Fruits and vegetables suffer the highest losses.
asserted
Fruits → suffer → losses
Food lost before it reaches shops is worth more than $400bn a year, according to the FAO.
uncertain
it → lose → FAO
Shops, restaurants and households then throw away almost a fifth of the food available to consumers, about 1.05 billion tonnes in 2022, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
uncertain
Shops → throw → Programme
That is equivalent to 52.5 million trucks, each carrying 20 tonnes.
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That → carry → tonnes
Households account for the most, 60 percent, followed by restaurants and other food services at 28 percent and shops at 12 percent.
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Households → account → percent
How to reduce food waste at home
Most food waste happens at home, which means households can make a real difference.
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households → reduce → difference
Here are some simple steps recommended by food waste campaigners and UN agencies:
- Plan before you shop: Check what you already have, plan meals for the week and shop with a list to avoid buying more than you need.
- Understand date labels: “Use by” dates are about safety, but “best before” dates are about quality.
asserted
dates → recommend → quality
Food is often still safe to eat after its “best before” date.
asserted
Food → eat → date
- Store food properly: Keep your fridge at 5C (41F) or below, and store fruit and vegetables where they last longest.
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they → store → fruit
Bananas, for example, speed up the ripening of other fruit nearby.
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Bananas → speed → fruit
- Use the freezer: Bread, cooked meals, meat and many fruits and vegetables can be frozen before they go off.
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they → use → freezer
- Cook the right amount: Measuring portions, especially for rice and pasta, cuts down on leftovers that get thrown away.
asserted
that → cook → leftovers
- Eat the oldest food first: Move older items to the front of the fridge and cupboard so they get used before newer ones.
- Use leftovers and scraps: Turn leftovers into new meals, and use vegetable peels and stalks in soups and stocks.
asserted
they → eat → soups
- Compost what you can’t eat: Composting inedible parts such as peels and eggshells keeps them out of landfills, where rotting food releases methane.
Which country wastes the most?
asserted
country → compost → most
On average, every person in the world wastes about 132kg (291 pounds) of food a year, roughly the weight of two adults.
asserted
person → waste → adults
Of that, 79kg (174 pounds) was thrown away at home.
asserted
kg → throw → home
But the amount varies widely.
asserted
amount → vary → ?
Hotter countries tend to waste more at home, UNEP says, possibly because of more fresh produce and less refrigeration.
uncertain
UNEP → tend → produce
The Maldives wastes the most food, with each person throwing away about 260kg (573 pounds) a year, about twice the global average.
asserted
person → waste → kg
Syria, the Dominican Republic, Seychelles, Mexico and Tunisia follow, each wasting more than 210kg (463 pounds) per person, according to UN estimates.
uncertain
each → follow → estimates
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
