Contribution of Non-profit Organizations to Food Security and Sustainability in the State of Qatar

Abstract

Despite the relatively long experience of charitable organizations in social and humanitarian aspects in Qatar, little is known about their role in food security and sustainability. This chapter sheds light on the issue of food waste and assesses the role of non-profit organizations in food security and sustainability in the State of Qatar. The analysis is based on data sourced from two active non-profit organizations working on food surplus and redistribution in Qatar, namely, Hifz Al Naema and Wahab. The results indicate that the organizations under study are exerting a considerable effort to maintain food security and to reduce food waste, and their intervention increase over time. However, despite the sizable efforts exerted by charitable organizations to sustain food security, the issue of food surplus in Qatar still is a puzzling problem. The chapter recommends that collective cooperation between academics, government entities, and civil society would help in designing an effective strategy that aims to sustain food security. Moreover, policymakers need to support and encourage charitable organizations to participate in managing, sustaining, and achieving food security. Therefore, allocating grants and facilities to organizations that operate in food waste management would stimulate the charitable societies to contribute to food sustainability.