Year 2017, Volume 2, Issue 1
| Year : | 2017 |
| Volume : | 2 |
| Issue : | 1 |
| Authors : | Samir Ali AROUS, Roberto CAPONE, Philipp DEBS, Yasmina HADDADI, Hamid EL BILALI, Francesco BOTTALICO, Mohamed HAMIDOUCHE |
| Title : | EXPLORING HOUSEHOLD FOOD WASTE ISSUE IN ALGERIA |
| Abstract : | Food losses and waste (FLW) is a phenomenon that has been underestimated, little studied and poorly documented in the Mediterranean countries. Actually, no policies, laws, strategies and action plans have been implemented to reduce FLW in Algeria. This exploratory study aims to evaluate household FW in Algeria. An online survey with 323 Algerian households was conducted in February-April 2015 to assess the knowledge and relative importance of FW; attitudes towards FW; impacts of behaviors regarding food and food management; FW quantity and value; as well as barriers and willingness to behavioral change. Sample is gender-balanced (54% female and 46% male) and rather young (93% are less than 44 years old) while most of respondents have high education level. Results show that household planning and shopping activities are significant forecasters of FW. Attitudes may change according to periods especially in Ramadan (88% of respondents declare that FW increase during this month) and to the category of food (most wasted product groups are fruits and vegetables, cereals and bakery products). Most of the respondents have a good understanding of “use by” food date label while they still confuse the meaning of “best before”. It seems that FW is widespread in Algeria as only 1% of respondents declare that they do not waste any food. About 15% declare that their households throw away at least 250 g of still consumable food each week. Even though Algeria is considered as a developing country, an important part of food wastage occurs at consumer level as in high and middle income countries. In order to reduce food waste, efforts should be directed towards providing consumers with skills and tools to deal with their food-related activities and to better consider the impact of food waste on the environment and economy. |
| For citation : | Arous, S. A., Capone, R., Debs, P., Haddadi, Y., El Bilali, H., Bottalico, F., Hamidouche, M. (2017). Exploring household food waste issue in Algeria. AGROFOR International Journal, Volume 2. Issue No. 1. pp. 55-67. DOI: 10.7251/AGRENG1701055A |
| Keywords : | Food waste, Online survey, Household behavior, Algeria |
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ISSN 2490-3434 (Printed)
ISSN 2490-3442 (Online)
ISSN 2490-3442 (Online)
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