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Food Losses and Waste: A Global Overview with a Focus on Near East and North Africa Region

Author

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  • Berja, Sinisa
  • Capone, Roberto
  • Debs, Philipp
  • Bilali, Hamid El

Abstract

Food losses refer to edible food mass decrease throughout the human food chain. Food losses occurring at consumption stage are called food waste. Food Losses and Waste (FLW) represent one of the most critical social, economic and ecological challenges facing humanity, besides being also an ethical issue. FAO data show that roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. There are no precise and accurate data regarding food waste in Near East and North Africa (NENA) region. The review paper aims at providing insights about the extent of FLW in NENA region with a special focus on Arab countries and Iran. The paper explores linkages between food waste and food security. Moreover, it analyses the economic and environmental implications of FLW. FLW vary depending on food type, country and season. Generally speaking, postharvest losses are significant in this region for most of commodity groups. It is estimated that FLW amount to 34% of food supply in NENA region. FLW undermine the very foundations of food security and amount to major depletion of resources (e.g. water, land, energy) and produce needlessly greenhouse gases. They also represent a wasted investment that reduces farmers’ incomes and increase consumers’ expenses. Therefore, food waste reduction is crucial for improving the sustainability of the food supply chain and achieving food and nutrition security in the region.

Suggested Citation

  • Berja, Sinisa & Capone, Roberto & Debs, Philipp & Bilali, Hamid El, 2018. "Food Losses and Waste: A Global Overview with a Focus on Near East and North Africa Region," International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development (IJAMAD), Iranian Association of Agricultural Economics, vol. 8(1), January.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:ijamad:292516
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.292516
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    Cited by:

    1. Tarek Ben Hassen & Hamid El Bilali & Mohammed Al-Maadeed, 2020. "Agri-Food Markets in Qatar: Drivers, Trends, and Policy Responses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-31, May.
    2. Abdelrahman Ali & Chunping Xia & Moustafa Ismaiel & N’Banan Ouattara & Irfan Mahmood & Dessalegn Anshiso, 2021. "Analysis of determinants to mitigate food losses and waste in the developing countries: empirical evidence from Egypt," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 26(6), pages 1-26, August.
    3. Ramesh Allipour Birgani & Amirhossein Takian & Abolghasem Djazayery & Ali Kianirad & Hamed Pouraram, 2022. "Climate Change and Food Security Prioritizing Indices: Applying Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Social Network Analysis (SNA)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-17, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Food Security and Poverty;

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