Quantifying food losses in South Africa and the costs of household food waste

Abstract

Food waste is problematic for a number of reasons, including the loss of a potentially valuable food source or resource for use in other processes (e.g. energy generation or composting); wasted resources and emissions in the food supply chain; and the environmental impacts of disposing of organic waste to landfill. However, attempts to quantify food waste are constrained by limited data, particularly in developing countries. This research attempted to quantify food waste (including both pre-consumer food losses and post-consumer food waste) in South Africa. In addition, it estimated the economic costs of household food waste.