The wastage of agricultural resources is is a global challenge that does not spare the Mediterranean area, which continues to be greatly affected by the low availability of water and land, the CIHEAM (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, which brings together all of the neighbouring countries, including states of the EU) and the FAO stated, presenting the 2016 edition of their "Mediterra Report" on agriculture. In an already vulnerable region, this situation requires us to be particularly accountable for the management of these in order not to accentuate future risks, the two organisations state.
The question of agricultural waste and food wastage has become critical, as the Mediterranean, like all regions, are facing the same problem: producing more but with fewer resources, and this means having to manage them better to try to reduce food insecurity, the organisations explain.
The CIHEAM and the FAO believe that in addition to the wastage of resources, a more human aspect needs to be taken into consideration. There is the "considerable risk of ignoring a deeply insidious and often neglected form of waste - that of human resources and knowledge related directly or indirectly to the agricultural and rural sector".
The two organisations explain that "the marginalisation of some rural areas, which if addressed could make a significant contribution to local, national and regional development, and the unemployment that affects their communities, combined with the disappearance of knowledge and know-how tested and accumulated over generations and lack of good governance - these are all resources that are being lost or, at the very least, poorly used". (Original version in French by Fathi B'Chir)