Enforce Solid Waste Management Rules to segregate organics and divert them from landfills, and promote schemes like SATAT and bio-CNG to create energy from organic waste, using Indore’s Bio-CNG plant under GOBAR-Dhan as a proof of concept.

Reducing waste yields economic and environmental co-benefits: lower methane emissions, stronger food security, and higher farmer incomes, delivering triple-win outcomes.

A coordinated, policy-driven approach can curb waste, cut methane, boost farmer incomes, and enhance climate resilience while improving overall food security.

Global hunger reports reveal a paradox in India: high waste and malnutrition coexist, with India ranking 105th on the 2024 Global Hunger Index and households discarding about 55 kg of food annually, totaling 78.2 million tonnes and ₹92,000 crore in value.

Current national policies like the National Food Security Act and PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana effectively distribute staples but neglect perishables—fruits, vegetables, dairy—essential for nutrition and resilience.

Logistics inefficiencies and cosmetic filtering by retailers further aggravate waste in the supply chain.

India wastes an estimated 30-40% of its total food production, amounting to about Rs. 2 lakh crore annually, due to losses across First-Mile (farm), Middle-Mile (logistics), and Last-Mile (consumption) stages, including field wilting, inadequate cold storage, and last-mile leakage to landfills.

First-mile losses can be as high as 16% for fruits and vegetables, driven by lack of affordable cold storage and refrigerated transport, with farm-level stress and climate events pushing farmers toward distress sales.

Policy imperatives call for a national, mission-mode push to build farm-level pack-houses, refrigerated transport, and modern storage, alongside a nationwide Good Samaritan Law to shield food donors from liability and encourage rescue efforts.

Farm-level losses include up to 16% wilting due to lack of affordable cold storage and refrigerated transport, with small farmers facing distress sales amid climate damage such as floods.

The overarching aim is to address waste along the farm-to-consumer chain, recognizing that reforms must start at the farm level and end with responsible consumption to meet climate and food-security goals.

The issue is tied to climate impact: heat, floods, and rising methane emissions from agriculture and waste amplify the problem, with India noted as a major methane emitter in global assessments.