at the Expo House, Al Rayyan Municipality launched the Solidarity Initiative for Food Sustainability. This initiative is in collaboration with the Food Security Department of the Ministry of Municipality, the General Cleaning Department, the Recycling and Waste Treatment Department, and the Hifz Al Naema Center. The launch was attended by several officials from food establishments and institutions affiliated with Al Rayyan Municipality. The initiative aims to reduce food waste and loss, maintain sustainability in Qatari society, achieve the principles of food, agricultural, environmental, and health sustainability, and activate the recycling of all organic, solid, and plastic materials to help preserve the environment. In this context, Mr. Jaber Hassan Al-Jaber, Director of Al Rayyan Municipality, stated that the initiative is part of the gains of the Qatar Expo 2023, particularly the sustainability axis, which adopts utilizing available scientific and human resources to achieve self-sufficiency within the state's general strategy for food security. He noted that Al Rayyan Municipality's partnership with the Food Security Department, the General Cleaning Department, the Recycling and Waste Treatment Department, and the Hifz Al Naema Center aims to focus primarily on combating food waste and loss, achieving a balance in food stock distribution, and creating a more sustainable and socially supportive development system to achieve food security for all segments of society and raise awareness of the importance of food sustainability to protect the community and its gains. Mr. Saleh Salem Al-Rumaithi, a consultant with the Food Security Department, emphasized that the initiative represents an important opportunity to achieve food security in Qatar and promote the concept of sustainability within Qatari society by working to reduce food waste and maintain sustainability. Reducing food waste is a strategic target in Qatar's national food security strategy. He highlighted that Qatar aims to conduct a survey to establish baseline plans for the food loss and waste indicators, following the best scientific methods to complete this project in line with the recommendations of all international organizations. The survey is expected to provide detailed results that will help identify the causes of food loss and waste and determine the per capita share of food waste, contributing to reporting progress on this indicator towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. Mr. Ali Aayed Al-Qahtani, Executive Director of Hifz Al Naema Center, stated that the initiative aims to raise community awareness and highlight the emerging issue of food waste. The Solidarity Initiative seeks to achieve sustainability and is characterized by the cooperation and partnership between the public and private sectors. He noted that Hifz Al Naema is a small part of Qatar's system for preserving blessings, particularly with cooperation from many establishments. The center annually preserves food by providing 400,000 meals distributed to beneficiaries and supplying 100 tons of vegetables and fruits. He mentioned that they are in the process of moving to a new building in the Thumayd area, as the current building in Duhail Hammam has limited capabilities. The new building under construction will double the current space for storage, cooling, and freezing rooms. Ms. Zainab Al-Shamari, Head of the Health Control Department at Al Rayyan Municipality, stated that the idea for the Solidarity and Sustainability initiative came about through collaboration between the private and governmental sectors to provide safe food and achieve sustainable development in all areas of life, in line with Qatar's Vision 2030. She pointed out that work on this initiative began approximately two years ago, creating a database of companies, factories, and food establishments that could contribute to and support the initiative's success. Strategies were developed for working together, and standards were set by a team with diverse specializations, including legal, administrative, and technical experts, with criteria for acceptance, evaluation, and passing, all with a focus on food safety and community well-being.
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