Research on Food Losses and Waste in North Africa

Hamid  El Bilali

doi:10.51745/najfnr.2.3.51-58

Research on Food Losses and Waste in North Africa

PDF (Full text)

Public Health Nutrition Policy & Economics

DOI https://doi.org/10.51745/najfnr.2.3.51-58

Issue Vol. 2 No. 3 (2018): January - June: 2018

Submitted 2018-01-31

Published 2018-04-04

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Background: Food losses and food waste represent an emerging problem with enormous economic, environmental, and social implications. Therefore, the reduction of food wastage is considered a promising strategy, not only to achieve food security but also to improve the food system sustainability. Food wastage is a serious issue also in North Africa region.

Aims: This paper provides an overview on research dealing with food losses and waste (FLW) in North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia).

Material and Methods: A systematic review was carried out in January 2018 using Scopus database. Issues addressed in the systematic review include geography of research on FLW in North Africa (i.e. countries considered or underserved), bibliometric parameters (e.g. journals, institutions) as well as thematic focus (agricultural loss, food waste). Selected records were also interrogated to see if they address the extent of FLW, the relation between food wastage and food security, economic implications of FLW, and environmental footprints of FLW.

Results: The results show that research on FLW is still marginal in North Africa in general and in Libya and Mauritania in particular. Moreover, while there are some interesting pieces of research on the amount of FLW, environmental and economic impacts of FLW as well as their implications in terms of food security are largely overlooked.

Conclusions: Therefore, North African researchers should pay more attention to food wastage issue. Such an endeavor should be supported by research policy in North Africa.

Keywords

Agricultural Losses Environment Food Losses Food Security Food Wastage Food Waste North Africa

Hamid El Bilali

Centre for Development Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna

PDF (Full text)

How to Cite

El Bilali, H. . (2018). Research on Food Losses and Waste in North Africa. The North African Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 2(3), 51-58. https://doi.org/10.51745/najfnr.2.3.51-58

More Citation Formats

Download Citation

1.

High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. (2014). Food losses and waste in the context of sustainable food systems. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3901e.pdf

2. Waste & Resources Action Programme. (2008). The food we waste. WRAP. http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/The_Food_We_Waste_v2__2_.99cb5cae.5635.pdf

3. Parfitt, J., Barthel, M., & Macnaughton, S. (2010). Food waste within food supply chains: Quantification and potential for change to 2050. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 365(1554), 3065–3081. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0126

4. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2011). Global food losses and food waste: Extent, causes and prevention. FAO. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0126

5. Lundqvist, J. (2010). Producing more or wasting less? Bracing the food security challenge of unpredictable rainfall. In L. Martínez-Cortina, G. Garrido, & L. López-Gunn (Eds.), Re-thinking water and food security: Fourth Marcelino Botín Foundation Water Workshop (pp. 75–92). Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.1201/b10541

6. Xue, L., Liu, G., Parfitt, J., Liu, X., Van Herpen, E., Stenmarck, Å., O'Connor, C., Östergren, K., & Cheng, S. (2017). Missing food, missing data? A critical review of global food losses and food waste data. Environmental Science & Technology, 51(12), 6618–6633. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b00401

7. Chaboud, G., & Daviron, B. (2017). Food losses and waste: Navigating the inconsistencies. Global Food Security, 12, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2016.11.004

8. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2013). Food wastage footprint: Impacts on natural resources—Summary report. FAO.

9. Gorski, I., Siddiqi, S., & Neff, R. (2017). Governmental plans to address waste of food. Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-a-livable-future/_pdf/projects/wasted-food/governmental-plans-to-address-waste-of-food.pdf

10. Smil, V. (2004). Improving efficiency and reducing waste in our food system. Environmental Sciences, 1(1), 17–26. https://doi.org/10.1076/evms.1.1.17.23766

11. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2012). Towards the future we want: End hunger and make the transition to sustainable agricultural and food systems. FAO. http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/an894e/an894e00.pdf

12. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2012). Greening the economy with agriculture. FAO. http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i2745e/i2745e00.pdf

13. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2017). The future of food and agriculture: Trends and challenges. FAO.

14. Lipinski, B., Hanson, C., Lomax, J., Kitinoja, L., Waite, R., & Searchinger, T. (2013). Reducing food loss and waste (Working Paper, Installment 2 of Creating a Sustainable Food Future). World Resources Institute. http://pdf.wri.org/reducing_food_loss_and_waste.pdf

15. World Resources Institute. (2013). Creating a sustainable food future: A menu of solutions to sustainably feed more than 9 billion people by 2050. WRI. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-8377(03)00047-4

16. Kummu, M., de Moel, H., Porkka, M., Siebert, S., Varis, O., & Ward, P. J. (2012). Lost food, wasted resources: Global food supply chain losses and their impacts on freshwater, cropland, and fertiliser use. Science of the Total Environment, 438, 477–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.08.092

17. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2018). Key facts on food loss and waste you should know! http://www.fao.org/save-food/resources/keyfindings/en

18. Stuart, T. (2009). Waste: Uncovering the global food scandal. Penguin.

19. Spiker, M. L., Hiza, H. A. B., Siddiqi, S. M., & Neff, R. A. (2017). Wasted food, wasted nutrients: Nutrient loss from wasted food in the United States and comparison to gaps in dietary intake. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 117(7), 1031–1040. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2017.03.015

20. High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. (2011). Price volatility and food security. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

21. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2012). Food loss prevention for improving food security in the Near East. FAO. http://www.fao.org/docrep/meeting/025/md457E.pdf

22. United Nations Environment Programme. (2012). Avoiding future famines: Strengthening the ecological foundations of food security through sustainable food systems. UNEP.

23. United Nations Environment Programme. (2012). The critical role of global food consumption patterns in achieving sustainable food systems and food for all. UNEP. http://fletcher.tufts.edu/CIERP/~/media/Fletcher/Microsites/CIERP/Publications/2012/UNEP_Global_Food_Consumption.pdf

24. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2015). Regional overview of food insecurity: Near East and North Africa. FAO. https://www.fao.org/3/a-i4644e.pdf

25. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2015). Regional strategic framework: Reducing food losses and waste in the Near East and North Africa region. FAO. http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4545e.pdf

26. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2014). Reducing food loss and waste in the Near East and North Africa (Fact sheet, Regional Conference for the Near East, NERC-32). FAO. http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/as212e/as212e.pdf

27. Ali Arous, S., Capone, R., Debs, P., El Bilali, H., & Bottalico, F. (2017). Exploring household food waste issue in Algeria. AgroFor, 2(1), 55–67. https://doi.org/10.7251/AGRENG1701055A

28. Elmenofi, G., Capone, R., Waked, S., Debs, P., Bottalico, F., & El Bilali, H. (2015). An exploratory survey on household food waste in Egypt. In Book of proceedings of the VI International Scientific Agriculture Symposium "Agrosym 2015" (pp. 1298–1304). University of East Sarajevo.

29. Abouabdillah, A., Capone, R., El Youssfi, L., Debs, P., El Bilali, H., & Bottalico, F. (2015). Household food waste in Morocco: An exploratory survey. In Book of proceedings: Sixth International Scientific Agricultural Symposium "Agrosym 2015" (pp. 1353–1360). University of East Sarajevo. https://doi.org/10.7251/AGSY15051353A

30. Sassi, K., Capone, R., Abid, G., Debs, P., El Bilali, H., Bottalico, F., & Driouech, N. (2016). Food wastage by Tunisian households. International Journal of AgroFor, 1(1), 172–181. https://doi.org/10.7251/AGRENG1601172S

31. Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLOS Medicine, 6(7), Article e1000097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097

32. Schott, A. B. S., Vukicevic, S., Bohn, I., & Andersson, T. (2013). Potentials for food waste minimization and effects on potential biogas production through anaerobic digestion. Waste Management & Research, 31(8), 811–819. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X13487584

33. Waste & Resources Action Programme. (2013). Household food and drink waste in the UK 2012. WRAP. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2011.01924.x

34. Abdelradi, F. (2018). Food waste behaviour at the household level: A conceptual framework. Waste Management, 71, 485–493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.10.001

35. Shreen, F. A., Badr, S. E., & Morad, M. M. (2016). Maximizing wheat crop yield using a mobile thresher at small holdings. Agricultural Engineering International: CIGR Journal, 18(3), 63–73.

36. Bansal, R. K., Monroe, G. E., Dahan, R., El Gharras, O., & Bahri, A. (1994). Mechanization of lentil harvesting in Morocco. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 10(5), 641–646. https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.25893

37. Bansal, R. K., & Sakr, B. (1992). Development of a vertical conveyor reaper for harvesting chickpeas and lentils in Morocco. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 8(4), 425–428. https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.26084

38. Fouad, H. A., Tayel, S. A., El-Hadad, Z., & Abdel-Mawia, H. (1990). Performance of two different types of combines in harvesting rice in Egypt. AMA, Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America, 21(3), 17–22.

39. Sharobeem, Y. F., & Radwan, S. M. (2000). Evaluation and modification of the multi-crop combine harvester. In 2000 ASAE Annual International Meeting, technical papers: Engineering solutions for a new century (pp. 2501–2512). American Society of Agricultural Engineers.

40. Haouel Hamdi, S., Abidi, S., Sfayhi, D., Dhraief, M. Z., Ben Abbes, K., & Mediouni Ben Jemâa, J. (2017). Nutritional alterations and damages to stored chickpea in relation with the pest status of Callosobruchus maculatus (Chrysomelidae). Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology, 20(4), 1067–1076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aspen.2017.08.008

41. Hussein, A. M., El-Adgham, F. I., El-Migid, M. B., & Omar, A. A. (1996). Postharvest handling and temperature management of chilling sensitive vegetables produced under protected agriculture in Egypt: II. Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Acta Horticulturae, 434, 257–264. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1996.434.31

42. Hussein, A. M., El-Adgham, F. I., El-Migid, M. B., & Omar, A. A. (1996). Postharvest handling and temperature management of chilling sensitive vegetables produced under protected agriculture in Egypt: II. Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Acta Horticulturae, 434, 265–270. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1996.434.32

43. Qaryouti, M., Nijdawi, O., Al-Abed, A., Al-Saed, K., & Abu-Ashour, J. (2012). Regional studies of pathogens development on stored tomato cultivars in the Middle East (Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Israel). Acta Horticulturae, 934, 363–370. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.934.46

44. Benkeblia, N. (2000). Food irradiation of agricultural products in Algeria: Present situation and future developments (a short communication). International Agrophysics, 14(2), 259–261.

45. Rady, A. M., & Soliman, S. N. (2013). Evaluation of surface effect on mechanical damage of potato tubers using different methods. In American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Annual International Meeting 2013 (Vol. 6, pp. 5074–5097). ASABE.

46. Helmy, M. A., Abdallah, S. E., Mitrroi, A., & Basiouny, M. A. (2013). Modification and performance evaluation of a reciprocating machine for shelling peanut. AMA, Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America, 44(3), 18–24.

47. Kandil, A., Attia, A., Sharief, A., & Leilh, A. (2011). Response of onion (Allium cepa L.) yield to water stress and mineral biofertilization. Acta Agronomica Hungarica, 59(4), 361–370. https://doi.org/10.1556/AAgr.59.2011.4.7

48. El-Mobaidh, A. M., Razek Taha, M. A., & Lassheen, N. K. (2006). Classification of in-flight catering wastes in Egypt air flights and its potential as energy source (chemical approach). Waste Management, 26(6), 587–591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2005.02.022

49. Trabelsi, I., Abbes, Z., Amri, M., & Kharrat, M. (2015). Performance of faba bean genotypes with Orobanche foetida Poir. and Orobanche crenata Forsk. infestation in Tunisia. Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research, 75(1), 27–34. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-58392015000100004

50. Harrak, H., & Jaouan, F. (2010). Processing dates of low market value into flour: Evaluation of quality and storage stability. Acta Horticulturae, 882, 593–602. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.882.67

51. Padilla, M. (2013). The new challenges of processing tomatoes: Life cycle assessment, a relevant approach from the field to end use. Acta Horticulturae, 971, 23–34. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.971.3

52. Fuglie, K. O. (1995). Measuring welfare benefits from improvements in storage technology with an application to Tunisian potatoes. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 77(1), 162–173. https://doi.org/10.2307/1243898

More

Research on Food Losses and Waste in North Africa

Keywords

How to Cite

Similar Articles

Downloads 822

Views 2705

Country (Top 10)

Make a Submission

Journal Issue

Keywords

Browse by Category

Information

Highly Accessed

Published by

Useful Links

Connect

Contact Us