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This chapter contributes to the present debate on food loss and waste. Many international and nongovernmental organizations see reducing food loss and waste as a priority for reducing global hunger and resource waste. The aim of this chapter is threefold. First, it questions whether the definition and methodology used for estimating the actual magnitude of food loss and waste is based on sound economic reasoning. Second, it investigates whether the inference concerning the potential for reducing global hunger is valid. Third, it questions whether there is a moral problem compared to wastage of some other consumer goods or the use of them for luxury reasons.

The definition of food waste and loss is crucial for quantifying its magnitude – how much is wasted by humans, fed to animals, and distributed to food banks. The aggregation problem is not solved adequately. It is highly questionable to aggregate all food items independently on the content of calories in kilograms. One kilogram of bread contains fewer calories than one kilogram of meat. It is questionable to consider food as loss or waste if the cost of avoidance would be higher than the value for the reduced loss or waste. Moreover, what is the cost to the hungry population for transferring food waste?

The purpose of this paper is to explore reasons for household preparation losses.

Observations of preparation behaviors and semi-structured interviews of nine people were conducted in their kitchens. The data were analyzed through a qualitative data analysis method.

Three types of preparation losses were identified, i.e. possibly avoidable food waste, excessive removals and unintentional losses. Possibly avoidable food waste and excessive removals were generated owing to people’s perception that is in the gray area between edible and inedible, their preferences, lower quality of food, convenience in preparation, lack of preparation skill and knowledge, and lack of concern about preparation losses. Unintentional losses were tiny pieces of food that were left on cooking tools.

As this study’s participants were nine women living in Japan, further research is needed in order to achieve saturation.

Few studies have discussed reasons for preparation losses, and extant studies were based on a diary method and questionnaires. This present study uncovers several new reasons for preparation losses based on interviews and observations of consumer preparation behaviors. These new details would be helpful for campaigns or programs that aim to reduce food losses.

Food waste is one of the most challenging issues humanity is currently facing. Therefore, there has been a growing interest in the prevention of food waste because of world hunger, environmental impacts, resource scarcity and economic costs. The purpose of the study is to investigate the factors that influence food waste and the role of technology in tackling food waste in India and the Netherlands.

In order to explore differences in food loss and waste further this study will examine a number of practices on both the production and the consumer side, in a developing country and a developed country with different culture/economic backgrounds: India and the Netherlands. The factors that influence food waste were examined with a preliminary qualitative study, which consists of semi-structured interviews, and quantitative research that comprises a survey. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in both India and the Netherlands, which consists of five interviews. The survey data was collected from 78 individuals from India and 115 individuals from the Netherlands.

One of the main findings of the research is food waste is divided into waste within agricultural production (i.e. food loss) and final household consumption (i.e. food waste). Different factors influence food loss in different stages in the supply chain. Some of these factors include wastage during processing, storage, transportation and at the market-place. New technologies can utilize food loss for new purposes, so food loss is reduced to the minimum. Food waste is mainly influenced by food passing expiry date, food that is left too long in the fridge and consumers buying too much food. In final household consumption, technologies such as digital platforms enable individuals or organizations to share and donate their food, thereby creating awareness on food waste prevention and the environmental and ethical benefits.

The authors examine to what extent and in which ways supporting consumers to minimize food waste can be achieved via three stages: (1) understanding and evaluating food loss and waste, (2) identifying the factors that influence food loss and waste, (3) understanding consumer behaviors to encourage food waste reduction and (4) identifying the technological impact that would reduce food waste. As such, this paper contributes to ongoing debates about food waste by looking at the role of context and culture and by exploring differences between developed and developing countries. Also, the authors advance the debate by exploring both the role of advanced technology such as blockchain and drones in both preventing loss and waste as well as non-technological mechanisms.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review and critically examine food losses and waste quantification in supply chain, especially in studies that tackle all the supply chain activities in a real context.

This work employed a systematic literature review methodology on the extant literature focusing on peer-reviewed journal articles published from 2000 to 2019.

A systematic analysis of 117 articles reveals that downstream supply chains are studied to a greater extent than upstream supply chains, with an emphasis on consumer waste. The findings also highlight more than half of the articles focus on only one supply chain activity. In terms of the methodologies, surveys and modelling methods are the most used to measure food losses and wastes, adopt monetary, carbon emission and calorific metrics. This study highlights that while food losses and waste research remains a relevant field of study, it has yet to been fully explored.

The main limit is the adoption of a systematic review method for food losses and waste quantification in supply chain.

The results suggest that supply chain managers should invest in acquiring more knowledge about food losses in the global network. Upstream supply chains should be more studied and integrated with the downstream supply chains. Using combined direct and indirect methods has the potential to deal with the contradictions of quantification, the lack of data and reduce losses over time and space.

Based on this review as the first one focusing exclusively on quantification of food losses and waste in supply chain context, the authors develop an aspiring research agenda that proposes opportunities for future research.

Headings

1. We analyse 117 studies addressing food losses and waste quantification.

2. Downstream food supply chains are more studied than upstream food supply chains.

3. Case studies of food supply chains in developed countries are more prolific.

4. The main metric to quantify food losses and waste is weight.

We analyse 117 studies addressing food losses and waste quantification.

Downstream food supply chains are more studied than upstream food supply chains.

Case studies of food supply chains in developed countries are more prolific.

The main metric to quantify food losses and waste is weight.

The purpose of this paper is to review the post-harvest loss experience of several Asia-Pacific economies to analyse the potential impacts of reduction of such losses using a range of remedial measures.

A conceptual framework has been developed and then applied to a case study based on several Asia-Pacific economies to provide an empirical basis for the analysis in the paper.

Limited access to vital farm inputs and credit, poor infrastructure and lack of technical and market information are some of the critical challenges confronting many small farmers in developing economies including those in the selected case-study countries. The estimated “food savings” are considerable if Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s pledge to reduce food losses and waste by 10 per cent by 2020, relative to the 2011-2012 levels is realised in the case-study economies.

Further work is urgently required to collect more up-to-date data on food losses along the food supply chain, including post-harvest losses, in many economies across the world, including the Asia-Pacific region.

The analysis of post-harvest losses is underpinned by a conceptual framework that has been developed and applied to several Asia-Pacific economies.

Marketing Management, Consumer Behavior.

This case is suitable to be used in advanced undergraduate and MBA/MSc level.

This case illustrates the challenges related to creating awareness toward green environment in Malaysia. It revolves around the issues pertaining food losses and waste along the supply chain from farms to table. Food losses and waste are of the important manifestations of the inefficiencies that plague our food systems. Statistics by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that around 1.3 billion tons of food is lost and wasted every year in the world. In Malaysia, the estimated food loss is around 400,000 tons in 2015 and is increasing every year. The amount of food loss could feed around 370,000 people in a year. It is recognized that household and individual behaviors have a great impact on the environment. The individual and household behavior contributed to ecological imbalance. Personal consumption and behavior create large-scale problems such as climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and natural resources depletion. Green behavior relates to activities that minimizes harm to the environment. These include minimizing energy use, utilizing efficient technologies, and reducing food waste and food loss. There is increasing policy interest on managing green behavior to ensure sustainable living and environment in Malaysia. Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (MOA) aims to embark a Green Initiative that focuses on the management of food loss and food waste. The Minister has directed The Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) to lead the project. The Director General of MARDI requested Dr Ain Hanim, the director of Corporate Communication Centre to come out with a proposal. This proposal will be discussed at the management meeting at the middle of March, so that the Director General could present it at the Ministry’s management meeting. Taking account the whole picture, Dr Ain Hanim is now contemplating whether to propose a strategic planning that focuses on either (1) to run nationwide awareness campaign on food loss and waste (FLW), (2) to conduct impactful studies on current Malaysian Save Food (MYSaveFood) awareness campaign, or (3) to implement new policies on reducing FLW, food rescue, and food safety. Different strategy requires different amount of budget and also creates different level of impacts. She is in dilemma on which options should be the best for Malaysia.

The objective of this case is as follows:

• to introduce students about the MySaveFood awareness programs in order to develop their understanding about the need for saving foods;

• to expose students to the green concepts such as food loss and food waste; and

• to train students on identifying factors and strategies that can lead to find a solution in regard to implement green activities.

to introduce students about the MySaveFood awareness programs in order to develop their understanding about the need for saving foods;

to expose students to the green concepts such as food loss and food waste; and

to train students on identifying factors and strategies that can lead to find a solution in regard to implement green activities.

The literature review of post-harvest supply chain (PHSC) losses is carried out and analyzed in this paper followed by bibliometric analysis of the literature.

The literature survey is performed across various dimensions such as PHSC losses, PHSC risks and PHSC sustainability (waste management and waste reduction). One hundred thirty research articles during the period of 1989–2020 were considered for the review.

The PHSC losses have been identified in this literature survey. The calculation and mitigation strategies stated by various researchers in the literature are addressed. The important loss mitigation dynamics are also presented to reduce the PHSC losses and to improve food availability.

The major focus is given on the PHSC of agriculture produces. However, research articles from fish and meat supply chain are excluded as they follow a different perishability curve.

The current work will add value to the agriculture supply chain literature, provide a platform for PHSC losses and provide assistance/guideline toward loss calculation, loss mitigation, improved rural employability, improved rural entrepreneurship and improved revenue generation.

The performed research will assist the researchers, entrepreneurs and farmers to understand the current scenario of food wastage at different stages of the supply chain better. It will provide the guidelines for calculation and mitigation of various stated PHSC losses. This study will be helpful to enhance food availability and food security in post-coronavirus crisis.

The paper explores and highlights PHSC loss calculations and mitigation strategies to identify the postharvest loss situation and better utilization of fresh produces.

This study estimates the land footprint, nutrients and monetary value of persimmon loss in Brazil, and also consolidated the methodological approach for assessing resources related to food loss.

It uses data on the harvested area, production, production loss and production value of persimmon in Brazil from 2014 to 2019. The persimmon loss in Brazil was converted into macro- and micronutrients, land use and monetary value.

The average annual production loss, loss production value and land footprint of persimmon are 35,100 tons, US$12m  and 1,673 hectares, respectively. Persimmon loss represents the average loss per year of 6.6bn grams of carbohydrates, 1.6bn grams of food fibers, 7.2bn milligrams of vitamin C, 41.8bn micrograms of vitamin A, 4.5bn milligrams of calcium and 54.8bn milligrams of potassium. These nutrients have the potential to meet the nutritional daily needs of approximately 135,000, 176,000 people, 270,000, 164,000, 12,000 and 32m, respectively.

Through (1) research and innovation; (2) infrastructure development; (3) training and education; (4) collaboration and networking; and (5) market diversification and value addition, people can increase persimmon shelf life, reduce postharvest losses and create a resilient environment for small persimmon farmers. This approach promotes sustainability in the agri-food system and empowers stakeholders.

This investigation helps to understand the value of food loss, considering the use of natural resources, as well as the loss of nutrients and monetary value.

Post-harvest losses are major problems faced by farmers and this is due to their poor access to credit considered as a low rate of financial inclusion. This paper aims at analysing the relationship between financial inclusion and post-harvest losses in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

The study engaged data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation [FAO] for post-harvest losses. Also, it engaged data from Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest [BCEAO] for financial inclusion over the period 2000 to 2020. The study applied the Instrumental Variable Two-Stage Least Squares (IV-2SLS) and Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) to test the robustness of the results.

The results show that financial inclusion reduces post-harvest losses by 1.2%. Therefore, given this result, policies to improve farmers’ access to credit by increasing the rate of financial inclusion, is a necessary condition for the reduction of post-harvest losses.

Social implication of this study is that it contributes to the policy debate on the enhancement of food security by reducing post-harvest losses. The reduction in post-harvest losses and food security, will improve the welfare and livelihood of the society. This aims for the actualization of sustainable development goal of food and nutrition security (SDG-2).

The findings imply that efforts by governments and policymakers to improve farmers’ access to credit by increasing the rate of financial inclusion would reduce post-harvest losses in West African countries that are members of the WAEMU. Also, investment in education, ICT and building warehouse for farmers will help in reducing post-harvest losses. It implies that educated farmers have more opportunities to be financially inclusive than those who are not educated.