Water Wheel Sept/Oct 2023: Food Waste

Abstract

How to fight food loss on South Africa’s farms It remains a perplexing fact that millions of SouthAfricans are hungry every day, while millions of tonnes of edible food are being discarded or left to rot. Food loss and waste are a global scourge, and the impact is felt intimately and plays out in the health and development of the poorest of the poor. In South Africa, out of almost 17,9 million households surveyed in 2021, 2,6 million had inadequate access to food and 1,1 million households experienced a severe lack of food. More than half a million (683 221) households with children aged five years or younger experience hunger. A large part of the reason is rising living costs, making food inaccessibly expensive to those who need it most. Yet, a staggering 45% of the total food supply (production plus imports less exports) is said to be wasted and lost across the food value chain. Every year about 10.3 million tonnes of edible food in South Africa is being discarded or left to spoil, the cost of which is enough to feed 16 192 children two nutritious meals every day for a year.

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