People all over the world have been tasked to adopt proper management of food, curb wastage and allow it to reach the have nots.

Making the call at the opening of a workshop to mark 2013 World Environment Day on Wednesday in Ilorin, the Kwara State Commissioner for Environment and Forestry, Barrister Kayode Towoju, noted that "it has been observed through statistics that people don't manage food well while others are dying all over the world".

Pointing out that 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted yearly worldwide; one out of seven people go to bed hungry daily worldwide while 20,000 children die of hunger every day, the commissioner maintained that every human should know that the era of taking more than you need should be over in the sake of humanity.

Towoju said theme of the celebration: "Think. Eat. Save; curbing the Culture of Food Wastage in Kwara State" was appropriate in that "we have not really mastered the art of saving", adding that there is the need for everyone to imbibe the culture of saving "right from harvest time."

In a remark, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr Abdulrazaq Amuda urged people to avoid wastage; cook and eat according to our need, stressing that by avoiding leftover we protect our environment.

"If every man cleans his house the city will not be dirty. If you feed one person and eeryone does same, you are feeding half of the world," he added.

In a paper presentation, the leader of the co-organizer of the programme, organization for the Sustenance of Nigerian Environment, Ms Angela Okoye disclosed that Agriculture which is at the centre of the economic sector is at the heart of some serious environmental problems such as land degradation, erosion, pollution, climate change, among others.

She observed that Agriculture and Environment are joined in a fundamental relationship in her paper titled "Understanding The Agriculture, Environment Linkage," advocating that it was imperative to value environment and take it into account in all policies and funding issues.

In his paper titled: "Deforestation and Poverty: Is There a Linkage?" another presenter, Mr. Olumoh Abdulrahman, decried the way and manner forest resources were recklessly exploited by people, pointing out that to discourage this overexploitation poverty must be reduced to tolerable minimum.

He called for participatory forestry management, planting fruit-bearing trees to contribute to poverty reduction, establishment of fuel-wood lots, introduction of unemployment benefits, increased waged, increased agricultural production and marketing systems, cut in kerosene price, enlightenment, etc to further save the forest and the environment at large.

Also in a presentation titled: "Reducing Post Harvest and Household Food Losses," Mr Adeiza Andrews of Nigerian Stered Products Research Institute (NSPRI) stated that the institute has a focus to increase self reliance in agriculture through adequate post harvest and household loss prevention.

Accordingly, he said they offer practical assistance to the public on storage of all crops, pest control, analysis of foods, training of private and public officers and also offer consultancy services in addition to provision of storage facilities for sale to the public.

The 5th of June every year was set aside to mark World Environment Day by the United Nations.