The United Arab Emirates University has funded four student research projects on food waste as part of the Student Sustainable Development Goals Research Program launched in 2022, the 2024 Sustainability Year activities, and the UAE University's roadmap to COP28 and beyond (2023-2026). The Associate Vice President for Research at UAE University, Professor Ahmed Ali Murad, stated that supporting these projects aligns with the university’s role in finding innovative solutions to community challenges such as food waste, in collaboration with researchers and students from the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine.
The first research cycle, related to supporting sustainable development goals, focuses on several important scientific topics, including sustainable approaches to extending storage life, reducing waste of perishable fruits and vegetables, finding a plastic alternative made from palm tree waste for producing active food packaging materials, and using date pits to create sustainable food solutions.
Furthermore, Acting Dean of the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Mohammed Abdul Mohsen Al-Yafee, mentioned that reducing food loss and waste to below 50 percent is one of the key development goals adopted by the UAE government in the coming years, noting that reducing loss alleviates the negative impact on the consumption and depletion of natural resources, and helps mitigate the anticipated damage from climate change.
