AMMAN, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Jordan and the World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday launched two projects seeking to address the country's food waste problem.
Under the first project, a "hackathon" competition will be held to encourage innovative ideas from businesses, individuals and universities to solve the food waste problem, according to the state-run Petra news agency.
The second project includes a partnership with a charity organization, which is tasked to collect excess food from hotels and redistribute it to underprivileged people.
At the launching ceremony of the projects, Jordanian Minister of Agriculture Khalid Hneifat underscored the significance of combating food waste, citing the country's limited resources.
Alberto Correia Mendes, the WFP's representative in Jordan, stressed the UN agency's commitment to continue supporting Jordan's national food security strategy.
The volume of food waste in Jordan is estimated at about 93 kilograms per capita annually, or 955,000 tonnes of food in total, enough to cover the food needs of about 1.5 million people for an entire year, according to official figures.
