The ministry said preventing the creation of food waste was one of its major strategies and that the importance of sustainable food production and consumption was becoming increasingly important during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The electronic food donation system has helped small dairy farms affected by the corona crisis, with 176 tonnes of their product purchased and freely distributed to 78 food donation mediators, eventually finding their way to the needy, the ministry said.
In recent years, the ministry said, it has been intensively working on advancing the food donation system and increasing the amount of donated food.
It is essential to ensure all the prerequisites so that safe and quality food which could end up as waste finds its way to the needy, the ministry said.
The e-donation system was launched in 2018 to expedite the distribution of surplus food and to facilitate communication between donors and mediators as well as cooperation with all stakeholders in the food donation chain, the ministry said.
It called on everyone in the food business and humanitarian organisations which mediate in food donation to take part in e-donation and contribute to socially and environmentally responsible business of their firms.