Food Wastage by Tunisian Households

Book of Proceedings of the VI International Scientific Agriculture Symposium “Agrosym 2015”; 15-18 October, 2015; Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. ISBN 978-99976-632-2-1. pp. 1353-1360, 2015

Food losses and waste is generated in important amounts across the food chain, from production to consumption, imposing serious environmental, social and economic costs. More attention is paid in Morocco to food losses while food waste (FW) is generally overlooked. There are few research activities on this problem in the kingdom. This exploratory study aims to evaluate household FW in Morocco. An online survey with 122 Moroccan households was conducted in February-May 2015 to assess the knowledge and relative importance of FW; attitudes towards FW; impacts of behaviors regarding food and food management; quantity and value; as well as barriers and willingness to behavioral change. Sample is gender-balanced (52% female and 48% male) and rather young (80% are less than 44 years old) while most of respondents have high education level. Results show that household's planning and shopping activities are important predictors of FW. On the other hand, attitudes may change according to periods especially in Ramadan (87% declare that FW is higher during this month) and also to the category of food (most wasted product groups are cereals and bakery products, fruits and vegetables). Most of the respondents have a good understanding of food labels. It seems that FW is widespread in Morocco as only 3.3% of respondents declare that they do not waste any food. About two-fifths (39%) declare that their households throw away at least 250 g of still consumable food each week. The economic value of FW generated each month is more than 60 Moroccan Dirham (≈ 6 US$) for 54% of respondents' households. In order to change consumers and household's FW behavior, efforts should be directed towards providing consumers with skills and tools to deal with their food-related activities and to consider environmental and economic impacts of food waste.

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2018

Background: Food consumption and wastage behavior varies across cultures, which warrants investigations in various countries and locations of different income levels. To date, information on the attitudes and behaviors of households in developing countries regarding food waste is scarce. The objective of this study is to assess the household attitudes and behaviors that determine food waste in Lebanon for a better understanding and for tailoring community based interventions. Methods: A questionnaire, composed of 3 sections and 27 questions, was developed to assess the attitudes and behaviors towards food waste in Lebanese households. A convenient sample of 1264 households from the five governorates of Lebanon was interviewed in 2016 and 2017. The variable "eat everything prepared" was used as a proxy for food waste. The effect of various sociodemographic and behavioral factors on household food waste generation across urban and rural areas in Lebanon was estimated by means of a Logistic regression, using STATA. Results: Socio-demographic variables such as employment, education, number of members in the household and income affected food waste volume. Behaviors such as eating out frequently and buying best offers were shown to increase food wastage. Also, beliefs such as feeling guilty decreased food waste generation. Rural households contributed less to food waste generation compared to urban areas. Conclusion: Households contribute significantly to a country's food waste problem through their behavior and beliefs. Our findings showed that various household characteristics and food-related behaviors, attitudes toward recycling and other beliefs affected food waste generation in urban and rural communities of a developing country. Future research is still needed to better understand determinants of food waste at the household level in developing countries.

AgroFor international journal 2(1): 55-67. http://www.agrofor.rs.ba/data/20170221-08-arous%20at%20all.pdf, 2017

Food losses and waste (FLW) is a phenomenon that has been underestimated, little studied and poorly documented in the Mediterranean countries. Actually, no policies, laws, strategies and action plans have been implemented to reduce FLW in Algeria. This exploratory study aims to evaluate household FW in Algeria. An online survey with 323 Algerian households was conducted in February-April 2015 to assess the knowledge and relative importance of FW; attitudes towards FW; impacts of behaviors regarding food and food management; FW quantity and value; as well as barriers and willingness to behavioral change. Sample is gender-balanced (54% female and 46% male) and rather young (93% are less than 44 years old) while most of respondents have high education level. Results show that household planning and shopping activities are significant forecasters of FW. Attitudes may change according to periods especially in Ramadan (88% of respondents declare that FW increase during this month) and to the category of food (most wasted product groups are fruits and vegetables, cereals and bakery products). Most of the respondents have a good understanding of "use by" food date label while they still confuse the meaning of "best before". It seems that FW is widespread in Algeria as only 1% of respondents declare that they do not waste any food. About 15% declare that their households throw away at least 250 g of still consumable food each week. Even though Algeria is considered as a developing country, an important part of food wastage occurs at consumer level as in high and middle income countries. In order to reduce food waste, efforts should be directed towards providing consumers with skills and tools to deal with their food-related activities and to better consider the impact of food waste on the environment and economy.

Journal of sustainable development of transport and logistics, 2022

Purpose: The primary aim of this paper is to explore the issue of food waste in contemporary societies, its causes, consequences, and potential solutions. Methodology: The authors conducted a survey among households in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship of Poland to diagnose the structure and causes of food waste. They also analyzed statistical data on food waste in European Union countries. Results: The study found that the most food waste occurs in Germany, France, and Italy, while the least occurs in Malta, Luxembourg, and Slovenia. The authors concluded that food waste harms three interconnected areas of sustainable development goals: environmental, economic, and social. Theoretical Contribution: This paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on food waste by providing a comprehensive analysis of its causes and impacts backed by empirical data. It adds value to sustainability studies by linking food waste to broader socio-economic and environmental issues. Practical Implications: The authors propose several measures to reduce food waste, such as planning purchases, processing food, sharing food with relatives or pets, using conventional and non-standard methods of food storage, and increasing the level of education and awareness about the issue. Individuals, communities, and policy-makers can implement these practical suggestions to address the problem of food waste.

Journal of Food Security, 4/6: 131-137, 2016

Food losses and waste, generated across the whole food chain, implies serious environmental, social and economic costs. Lebanon suffers from lack of information about food waste. There is no national legislation related to food waste (FW). The paper provides insights on household FW in Lebanon with a focus on perceived importance of FW, attitude towards FW, quantity and value of food wasted. An online survey was conducted in the period January-March 2015 with 215 adult consumers. Sample is not gender-balanced, rather young and with high education level. Household's planning and shopping activities are important predictors of FW. Fruits, vegetables, and milk and dairy products are the most wasted food products. Most of the respondents have a good understanding of "use by" label while just the quarter know exactly the meaning of "best before" label. About 42% of respondents declare that their households throw away at least 250 g of still consumable food each week. The economic value of FW generated each month is more than 6 United States dollar (US$) for 80% of respondents' households. Lebanese households show a positive attitude regarding FW and are willing to change behaviour to reduce it. An integrated policy mix is needed to foster transition towards zero-waste consumption patterns.

Book of Proceedings of the VI International Scientific Agriculture Symposium “Agrosym 2015”; 15-18 October, 2015; Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. ISBN 978-99976-632-2-1. pp. 1298-1304. DOI: 10.7251/AGSY15051298E, 2015

Food security is a major concern in the developing countries, food production must increase significantly to meet future demand in a way that assures balance between the available and limited natural resources. According to the FAO roughly one-third of the edible parts of food produced for human consumption gets lost or wasted globally, i.e. about 1.3 billion tons per year. Food losses and waste are generated through the whole food chain. Changes in food consumption patterns in Egypt had implications also in terms of the amount of food lost and/or wasted. Unfortunately, there are few data regarding food waste in Egypt. Therefore, the current exploratory study aims to have a general overview about household food waste in Egypt. An online survey and face-to-face interviews were conducted from February to May 2015 with a random sample of 181 adult Egyptians representing about 64.6% female and 35.4% male. The majority of the respondents were young (59.1% are less than 44 years old) and have high education level. Food waste is prevalent in Egypt as just 13.8% of respondents declare that they do not throw any food. Data show that food waste increases during the fasting month of Ramadan. The most wasted food products are fruits, vegetables, cereals and bakery products. Only 21.5% of respondents declared that the economic value of food waste generated each month is more than 6US$. Most of Egyptian respondents have a good understanding of food labels that is probably due to the high education level of the sample. About 42% of respondents throw weekly at least 250 g of still consumable food. To reduce food losses and waste in Egypt it is important to set a strategy at all food chain levels. There is also an urgent need to raise people's and organizations awareness towards this problem and further exploration on food waste at lower educational levels and poor people, which might be quite different.

Sustainability, 2022

This study examines the relationship between food waste and gender, income, and where students live. The research aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2, 11, and 12; moreover, the massive global food shortage in 2022 due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine makes saving food a priority. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 201 students at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU). A large proportion of the respondents were female (71.6%). The most common reasons cited by the respondents for food waste were over purchasing (31% of respondents), attitude (26.5%), and poor management (24%), while the most common reasons for having extra-cooked food were expecting guests (46%) and wanting to eat the food that had been prepared (35%). The majority of the respondents (57%) agreed that young people waste more food than older people. The methodology used in this study could be adopted by other researchers around the globe, and the output may help in developing policies and designing educational material for food waste intervention programs. Beneficiaries may therefore include food producers/consumers, environmental departments, and charitable organizations. The research contributes to the knowledge about food waste, perception, and intervention programs.

Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2019

About 25 million tons of food go wasted or lost in Iran which has socioeconomic and environmental consequences for both the country and the households. The main objective of this research is to develop a model to examine the relationship between FCM components and the amount of FW of households in Tehran city, with a focus on urban women. By means of a structural model, this study provides a novel approach to exploring relationships between the food-related behavior of urban households and waste control (n = 1197). Besides, this study is the first attempt to quantify food waste in Iran at the household level. According to the adopted selfreporting procedure, in Tehran, every consumer wastes about 27.6 kg of edible food annually. It is found that households with better food consumption management (FCM (have a lower level of food waste. Moreover, the results have proved that other determinants such as demographic factors, economic power, information use, ability, and motivation have direct and indirect significant effects on FCM as well as on the amount of food waste generation. The findings suggest that the above-mentioned determinants are crucial and should be considered when developing a strategically sustainable food waste prevention plan. 1.1. Statement of the problem Estimations indicate that vast amount of food is wasted at the consumption level and it varies in different countries (Parfitt et al., 2010; Kummu et al., 2012; BCFN, 2012). Some studies indicate that the amount of food waste at household level varies between 25% of total purchases in the UK (WRAP, 2009) increasing up to 42% to 50% of the total amount in some European countries (Campoy-Muñoz et al., 2017; Stancu et al., 2016), and even 60% in one US county (Griffin et al., 2009). The results of the study by Schott and Andersson (2015) indicate that on average 35% of household food waste is avoidable out of which

Foods

Current household food waste (HFW) reduction plans usually focus on raising consumer awareness, which is essential but insufficient because HFW is predominantly attributed to unconscious behavioral factors that vary across consumer groups. Therefore, identifying such factors is crucial for predicting HFW levels and establishing effective plans. This study explored the role of dietary patterns (DP) and socioeconomic status (SES) as predictors of HBW using linear and non-linear regression models. Questionnaire interviews were performed in 419 households in Shiraz during 2019. A multilayer sampling procedure including stratification, clustering, and systematic sampling was used. Three main DPs, i.e., unhealthy, Mediterranean, and traditional, were identified using a food frequency questionnaire. Results indicated that a one-unit rise in the household’s unhealthy DP score was associated with an average increase in HBW of 0.40%. Similarly, a one-unit increase in the unhealthy DP score an...

Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 4/8: 483-489, 2016

Increase in food demand, mainly due to population growth and diet changes, is putting an increasing pressure on food system and food security. In this framework, food losses and wastes (FLW) together create one of the main causes of food systems unsustainability. The two differ on the fact that food losses refer to the part of food that is lost along the supply chain before reaching final consumer while food waste represents the waste of food by final consumer. This paper focuses on the role of demographic, social and economic factors affecting household behavior related to food waste (FW) and explores some factors which can play an important role in tackling food waste issue in the case of Turkey. The paper is based on an online survey with 150 Turkish respondents in January-March 2015. The sample was not gender balanced since 71% of them were females. About two fifths of the respondents (38%) belong to the age group 35-44 years and 62% of the sample has a high level of education (master and PhD). The fact that the majority of the respondents are employees (70% of the sample) in the big cities of Turkey shows how the pace of the metropolitan life structure affects consumer food consumption habits and orient purchases towards supermarkets. The results of the survey show that still 95% of the respondents are responsible of FW and 90% think that food waste increases during the month of Ramadan. Nevertheless, about 50% of respondents declared the willingness to throw less away and ask for better information about the negative impacts of food waste on the environment and on the economy. Preventing bread waste campaign of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock was launched in 2013 in order to increase consciousness of the society towards bread waste which is quite important in Turkey. Similarly, there are some other initiatives on both national and local level with the objective of informing people about the food waste, sustainable food consumption and reuse of the food through food recipes.