How digitalization could help food banks tackle hunger
Food banks help redistribute surplus food to people who need it, but traditional models face growing operational and funding pressures. Could digital technology help them coordinate more effectively, reduce waste and demonstrate their impact?
In 2022, 1.05 billion tonnes of food was wasted globally. That food was worth more than US$1 trillion. Despite this food surplus, around 783 million people are undernourished, while 150 million children under five suffer stunted growth due to chronic shortages of essential nutrients. The heart-wrenching reality is that food is discarded on a huge scale while millions go hungry.
Food banks are one mechanism to try and redistribute food that would otherwise be wasted. While food banks can’t solve global poverty, they can make an impact on a smaller scale. But the traditional operating model has some challenges. Esade researchers David Murillo, Mireia Yter and Liliana Arroyo recently conducted a study asking whether digitalization could help food banks run more effectively.
Article published on Esade Do Better