UAE to track household food waste under nationwide study

Campaign involving members of the public and businesses aims to support food security goals

The UAE is taking steps to limit food waste across the country. Antonie Robertson / The National

The UAE has launched a nationwide campaign to measure food loss and waste among households, the agriculture sector and businesses in support of a long-term drive to encourage more responsible production and consumption.

The National Baseline Study – which is being led by the country's food loss and waste initiative, Ne'ma – will involve 3,000 participants and will seek to track waste from farm to fork across all seven emirates.

Food producers and distributors, public and private sector bodies and members of the public are all being enlisted to help bolster the nation's goal to halve food waste by 2030.

A key part of the strategy will be a two-week data collection field survey in which the amount of food discarded by households will be monitored to help paint a clearer picture of the eating habits of the public.

The study’s findings will be unveiled by Ne'ma during the first half of 2026. Ne'ma was established in March 2022 to co-ordinate government agencies, the private sector, non-government organisations and society to reduce food loss and waste across the supply chain.

The research is being conducted by Ne'ma in partnership with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, Tadweer Group, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Environment and Climate Change Authority and Aldar, with additional support from the local municipalities and authorities, the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre and local statistics centres across the UAE.

Khuloud Al Nuwais, chief sustainability officer at Emirates Foundation and secretary general of Ne'ma. Victor Besa / The National

“Tackling food loss and waste requires national collaboration, and alignment to create a unified approach and methodology for measuring actual food waste across the supply chain," said Khuloud Al Nuwais, chief sustainability officer of Emirates Foundation and Ne'ma committee secretary general.

"Through the UAE’s first National Baseline Study, Ne'ma is engaging public, private sector, and community members in building an accurate, data-driven picture of where and how food is lost or wasted. This will enable the UAE to track progress against reduction targets.

"The Baseline Study supports the UAE in building capacity so that we can achieve the target of halving food loss and waste by 50 per cent by 2030."

Findings will be used to help shape future strategies aimed at tackling inefficiencies and waste along the food chain.

Ne'ma estimates Dh6 billion ($1.63 billion) of food is wasted in the Emirates annually.

Each person in the UAE wastes an average 224kg of food each year, according to the Food Sustainability Index 2020, almost double that of figures in Europe and North America.

Food for thought

The study is the latest step by the government to tackle waste and excess and change attitudes in all sections of society.

In November, the UAE set out plans to reduce food waste at all major events across the Emirates, with leftover food to be donated to those in need or repurposed into compost to reduce carbon emissions.

An agreement was signed at the Abu Dhabi International Food Exhibition, between Ne’ma, and the country’s event organisers. The measures will apply to all major public events moving forward.

In the same month a public awareness drive was launched, called Valuing Our Roots, to address food waste.

The scheme included an exhibition in Abu Dhabi showcasing home-grown companies that are championing sustainability and aim to serve as role models.