Why South African farmers don’t measure lost food

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About 45% of South Africa’s total available food supply that enters the food value chain is lost or wasted, with much of it occurring during initial agricultural production on farms.

But fewer than 40% of farmers measure how much food is wasted, a study has found.

The research was conducted by The Behaviour Change Agency, for the World Wildlife Fund South Africa (WWF-SA), the Nedbank Green Trust and Food Forward.  

It explored the awareness, attitudes and behaviours of farmers about food waste, including the value they place on reducing food waste and what their food waste management practices are.

Although food waste unfolds across all stages of the food supply chain, aCouncil for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) study in May 2021 found that 34.3% of the total edible food waste — 10.3 million tonnes a year — unfolds at the primary production stage. Of this figure, South Africa loses 2.7 million tonnes during agricultural production and 2.4 million tonnes during post-harvest handling and storage. 

On-farm losses and waste are typically used as animal feed, ploughed back into the fields for soil enrichment or used in the production of composting, while surplus food is donated to charities, according to the CSIR. 

“A lot of the fresh produce … is diverted to animal feed, which is a win-win in a way, but if you consider the amount of people that still go hungry, then you cannot justify diverting food waste to [animal] feed rather than to consumers,” Suzan Oelofse, the principal researcher at the CSIR, previously told Mail & Guardian.

Environmental factors

In the latest study, farmers cited environmental factors as one of the biggest causes of food waste and loss. 

“Unseasonal weather, destructive pests and diseases can damage entire crops at a time, leading to enormous wastage. Other significant factors were poor planning in the pre-harvest and production phase, incorrect use of pesticides and a lack of training,” WWF-SA said in a statement.

It said farmers face unique problems that contribute to food waste and loss, “such as disruption in cold chains due to load-shedding and damage to trucks and re-routing delays due to riots and unrest”.

But the research found that 100% of respondents said they were eager to address food waste on their farms. 

“This motivation stemmed from both a financial and a moral drive towards increasing food security. This means that, although farmers face numerous barriers when trying to implement food waste management strategies, they are up for the challenge,” it said.

The next step for researchers is to devise behavioural change interventions that can be tested at farm level, WWF-SA stated.

One third of all food produced lost or wasted

Global food production must increase by 70% by 2050 to meet the demand for food. Yet nearly one third of all food produced for human consumption around the world is lost or wasted each year.  In South Africa, waste at the household level has risen from 5% to 

18%, according to the CSIR.

It said food waste has a triple negative effect, hurting the economy, because “ all water, electricity, seeds, fertiliser and other inputs used to produce the food is wasted if the food goes to waste”. 

It contributes to food insecurity by increasing the cost of food, because the cost of the wastage gets factored into the prices of food, making food unaffordable for poor people. It worsens climate change by increasing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.