Jordan charity collects hotel leftovers to feed the poor during Ramadan

A charity in Jordan is collecting left-over food from lavish Ramadan buffets at wedding parties and hotels to redistribute to needy families during the holy month.

Angered by the amount of food thrown away by hotels during the Muslim fasting month, Bandar Sharif set up his 'Family Initiative' ten years ago.

Food consumption levels typically double across the region during Ramadan.

"What we do is eliminate this waste, we salvage the food and provide it to people who are in desperate need of it," Sharif, a 33-year-old teacher, told Reuters.

A team of volunteers works all year round to collect unwanted food, while Family Kitchen's initiative this year provides iftar meals to 500 families in the Palestinian refugee camp of Baqaa, one of the poorest areas in the country.

A third of the camp's 120,000 residents have an income below the national poverty line and around 17 percent are unemployed.

"Our families are very poor, there is a lot of poverty in the community, so they need this support, they need these meals in order to ensure that they have food the next day," said Kifah Khamis, who runs a charity in the Palestinian camp. 

Jordan has witnessed some of the largest protests in years this month over prices backed by the International Monetary Fund.

Critics say the price hikes are to blame for rising poverty in the country.