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Food waste: causes and economic losses estimation at household level in Pakistan

  • Recent Trends in Environmental Sustainability
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Abstract

Food waste is one of the major sustainability issues that need to be addressed due to its negative impacts on the economy, environment, and food security. To develop food waste reduction policies on regional and global level, it is mandatory to have a clear understanding of the various factors prompting food waste at household level and the extent of the economic losses incurred by food waste. Reducing food waste can decrease household expenditure on food, freeing resources for health, education, and well-being. The current study was aimed to (1) examine the food waste behavior of the respondents and to (2) determine the level of monetary losses from food waste. To address these objectives, a questionnaire survey and sample of food waste generated during 24 h were collected from 51 households in Tehsil Kahror Pakka, District Lodhran, Punjab, Pakistan. The survey focus was on levels of food waste and respondents’ knowledge and behaviors about food waste. Economic estimation of food waste was also done. In the survey, respondents from both high- and low-income households revealed that their fruit and vegetables (31%; 32%) and peel and scrap (53%; 48%) losses were higher while egg losses (4%; 4%) were lower among various food waste categories. Wanting to eat fresh food and having no time to save food were the reasons for food waste. Monetary losses from food waste (US$ 12.8/Rs. 3677.01 per capita per annum) were higher in high-income households compared to low-income households.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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The research work was self-funded.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, Vehari, 61100, Punjab, Pakistan

    Samina Khalid, Muhammad Shafique Khalid, Hafiz Muhammad Rashad Javeed, Muhammad Asif Naeem & Aqsa Naseer

  2. The University of Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38040, Punjab, Pakistan

    Aman Ullah Malik

  3. Department of Entomology, University College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, 40100, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan

    Muhammad Irfan Ullah

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  1. Samina Khalid
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  2. Aman Ullah Malik
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  3. Muhammad Irfan Ullah
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  4. Muhammad Shafique Khalid
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. SK designed the research work. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by MIU, MSK, HMRJ, AsN, and AqN. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SK and AUM. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Samina Khalid.

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Khalid, S., Malik, A.U., Ullah, M.I. et al. Food waste: causes and economic losses estimation at household level in Pakistan. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 99284–99297 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28775-4

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