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Scholars of Sustenance Indonesia addressing world food insecurity challenges at G20

• 17 November 2022
• Insight
• Denpasar

DENPASAR, NETIZENBALI.com - Scholars of Sustenance highlighted the fastest available climate impacts from immediate Excess Food Rescue at the Atlantic Council’s G20 Global Food Security Forum. 

Food insecurity is rising as a result of both short-term disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war, as well as long-term issues like climate change and ongoing conflict. Scholars of Sustenance (SOS), the largest food rescue non-profit in South-East Asia spoke at the Atlantic Council’s Global Food Security Forum Day 2 in Bali, Indonesia held on November 13, 2022 at Sofitel Nusa Dua on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Bali.

At “The state of global food security: From farm to fork” the panel was discussing primary current challenges to global food security and the solution to addressing the challenges.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to Indonesia Vasyl Hamianin who was at the panel explained, "The foundation of the problem is Russian aggression against Ukraine, which has resulted in significant food insecurity." Ukraine is one of the world's largest wheat producers, and the war has hampered its capacity to transfer the grains to worldwide markets.

Laksmi Parvita from Bayer stated private sector view on the problem,” It’s very important that we empower the smallholder farmers, we give them the access of technology, the most if possible, the most advanced technology as fast as possible to the smallholder farmers so that they can get all the opportunity, the best opportunity. They can have to produce more food.”

At this wonderful moment Bo H Holmgreen the founder of Scholars of Sustenance was addressing the problem from his experience in running the largest food rescue non-profit in South-East Asia that was created to optimize the food supplies in addressing food insecurity and food waste.

Analyzing farm to fork concept, and viewing it,  that the best place that we could have biggest impact on food security and the fastest right now is by going when it falls of the fork – food waste. The food waste problem is enormous and adding to that we have to address distribution problem.

“We are 8 billion inhabitants of this globe, we every day make enough food for 10+ billion, yet one billion of us go to bed hungry every night. We simply have a distribution problem! We at SOS aim at our principles of a future with Food Equity, where access to good nutrition is less about money in hand, and more about desperation and need”. By saving the incredible food waste and making sure this good nutrition goes into stomachs rather than landfills, SOS believes in quick impacts on the environment and people” said Bo H Holmgreen. SOS is proud to have an impact on the world’s food supplies, yet as Bo H. Holmgreen, Founder and CEO of SOS Global, stated in the Global Food Security Forum panel, governments must step up to the plate.

SOS is delighted to be able speak at very prestigious forum with experts such as Ukrainian Ambassador to Indonesia Vasyl Hamianin, the former minister of Climate and Environment for Poland Dr. Michał Kurtyka, the principal deputy foreign policy advisor at US Indo-Pacific Command Guy Margalith, the head of Communications, Public Affairs, Science, and Sustainability, for Bayer Indonesia Laksmi Prasvita and the founder and executive director of Fundacion Alternativas Maria Teresa Nogales. The event includes remarks by H.E. Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Republic of Indonesia and fireside chat with H.E. Prabowo.

Subianto, Minister of Defense, Republic of Indonesia. The conference concluded with an appearance by Indonesian President Joko Widodo who accepted the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award bestowed upon him earlier this year.

SOS team and President of Atlantic Council Mr Frederick Kempe

The President of Atlantic Council Frederick Kempe show support and appreciation towards SOS impact in food security sector and took time to take a picture with SOS team in front of SOS cool chain technology trucks where SOS trucks alone during COVID has served 3 million nutritious meals to help counter the virus in Bali.

Since inception 6 years ago, the hardworking SOS staffs in three countries have provided over 25 million meals, and as the post-COVID world is recovering, SOS look forward to obtaining much more excess foods, thereby reducing CO2 from the landfills. (NB/*)