Wasted Food, Wasted Lives: Hunger and Waste in India (Relationship between Food Waste and Hunger Index in context to India)

  • Unique Paper ID: 189516
  • PageNo: 7078-7084
  • Abstract:
  • In India, we have an urgent issue where on the one hand there is so much food is wasted (78.2 million tonnes annually) and on the other hand there is significant food insecurity (233.9 million). Approximately 78.2 million tonnes of food is lost or wasted every year across the supply chain—from producer to household. There are significant environmental and economic impacts related to food waste in India. Data from the 2024 Global Hunger Index shows that out of 127 countries ranked as part of this index, India is ranked 105th. In this study, we will investigate the systems that contribute to food waste, how effective management of food waste may reduce hunger, by examining inefficiencies in food distribution systems, and the use of food redistributing strategies at both the supply and household levels, we will identify potential methods for getting surplus food to those who are food insecure. Addressing these issues is vital for establishing a more equitable and sustainable food system in India.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{189516,
        author = {Nirmala Talape and Siddhi Ghodke and Srushti Kenekar},
        title = {Wasted Food, Wasted Lives: Hunger and Waste in India (Relationship between Food Waste and Hunger Index in context to India)},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {7},
        pages = {7078-7084},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=189516},
        abstract = {In India, we have an urgent issue where on the one hand there is so much food is wasted (78.2 million tonnes annually) and on the other hand there is significant food insecurity (233.9 million). Approximately 78.2 million tonnes of food is lost or wasted every year across the supply chain—from producer to household. There are significant environmental and economic impacts related to food waste in India. Data from the 2024 Global Hunger Index shows that out of 127 countries ranked as part of this index, India is ranked 105th. In this study, we will investigate the systems that contribute to food waste, how effective management of food waste may reduce hunger, by examining inefficiencies in food distribution systems, and the use of food redistributing strategies at both the supply and household levels, we will identify potential methods for getting surplus food to those who are food insecure. Addressing these issues is vital for establishing a more equitable and sustainable food system in India.},
        keywords = {Food Waste, Hunger, Food Security, Food Redistribution, Supply Chain, Global Hunger Index, Sustainability, India},
        month = {December},
        }

Cite This Article

Talape, N., & Ghodke, S., & Kenekar, S. (2025). Wasted Food, Wasted Lives: Hunger and Waste in India (Relationship between Food Waste and Hunger Index in context to India). International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology (IJIRT), 12(7), 7078–7084.

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