Project Background

According to a study by Alero Ann Roberts, 66.8% of households in Lagos Nigeria were between moderately and severely food insecure as at 2018[1]. Food security amongst other things, speaks to access to food that meets dietary requirements, and the purchasing power to procure same as at when needed. Clearly, Covid-19 and the more recent removal of petrol subsidies in the country would have further exacerbated those numbers, increasing the number of households in poverty and the fragility of the already precarious food security conundrum they face. This situation is more or less the same across many African communities.

While Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 seeks to end hunger by 2030, SDG 12 promotes responsible production and consumption with the SDG 12.3 indicator seeking to halve food waste across the world by 2030. The scale of food waste in view of the increasing global hunger epidemic is alarming. For example, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Food Waste Index Report 2021 reveals that the household, retail and food services subsectors combine to waste a staggering 931 million tonnes of food each year. Although this is further disaggregated into edible and inedible components, it makes the case for a reduction in food waste in the face of global hunger.

Conversely, the evidence presented by the UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2021 demonstrates that “food waste at the consumer level is everybody’s problem”.[2] The report continues: “In all countries for which data was available, food waste particularly at the household level, was substantial.” Acknowledging that it was a “waste of resources, time and money” and an indication of substantial environmental damage from food production without what it terms “any of the benefits of people being fed.”

With widespread food insecurity for millions of people around the world, addressing food waste in UN member countries is a “critical issue to creating low impact, healthy and resilient food systems.“    

From the Food Waste Index, there are three sectors where about 931 million tons of food is wasted annually, representing about 17% of global food production annually i.e. household, retail and food services. Of the three sectors, while waste from the household subsector has the highest incidence, it is equally the most reported of the three. The implication is that any study that attempts to understand the scale of waste in any one of the retail or food service sub sectors will be making significant contribution to the body of knowledge; providing important data for data-driven action for bridging the gap between waste and want.

There are a number of benefits for measuring food waste. The index notes some of the benefits to include building the case for tackling food waste, providing the understanding of the nature of food waste in a country and informing a national food waste strategy based on food waste hotspots while tracking food waste over time. “Reductions can be an important avenue for stakeholders to save money, improve food security, reduce environmental impacts and add value to circular economy processes.” “Measurements should spur action after the ‘Target-Measure-Act’ approach promoted by high level food loss and waste coalition champions 12.3.”

It is precisely for this reason that we are focusing on understanding the scale of the problem in the food services subsector (which is currently insufficiently studied and underreported) with a view to building through collaboration with critical stakeholders, a circular food system that diverts the edible surplus to otherwise at risk and food insecure individuals and households across Africa.  

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[1] A.A Roberts et al., 2019; Journal of Public Health in Africa 2019; 10:885

[2] United Nations Environment Programme (2021).  Food Waste Index Report 2021. Nairobi

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