Bread and Bakery Products Waste in Selected Mediterranean Arab Countries

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Food Loss and Waste in Mediterranean Arab Countries

Accurate estimations of the magnitude of FLW in Mediterranean Arab countries are lacking. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that it remains unacceptably high. Per capita FLW is about 215 kg/year in North Africa, West & Central Asia (NAWCA) ^[4]. Such levels of FLW are unexpected in a region that is so dependent on the international markets to meet its food needs. Quantitative FLW in NENA are estimated to be 14 to 19% of grains, 26% of roots and tubers, 16% of oilseeds and pulses, 45% of fruits and vegetables, 13% of meats, 28% of fish and sea foods, and 18% of dairy products. For fruits and vegetables, which have the highest proportion of losses and waste, country-specific data indicates a substantial part of these losses occur at the post-harvest stage ^[29]. The percentages of FLW of the edible parts of seven food commodity groups in Arab countries are shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Weight percentages of FLW (in percentage of what enters each step of the food supply chain) in Arab countries (NAWCA region) and Turkey

Download as

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

Losses and waste severely affect the availability of food in the Near East region. It is estimated that 10-15% of non-perishables (e.g. grains) and up to 60% of perishables are lost during the whole production chain in the Near East region. In addition, post-cooking losses are also significant. The very significant post-harvest losses are due to many reasons such as extreme environmental conditions, inadequate storage, transport and packaging infrastructure, etc. ^[30].

In Egypt annual losses of wheat (both locally produced and imported) are valued at 6.6 billion Egyptian Pounds (over $1 billion), while the value of maize losses is estimated to be 1.5 billion Egyptian Pounds. If wheat and maize losses are reduced by half, this would lead to savings of some 4.0 billion Egyptian Pounds annually. An estimate of average total food waste ranged from 3 to 19% across supermarkets; while the amount of loss directly associated with handling damage was approximately 2%. Egypt loses 13-15% of the available cereals between harvesting and final consumption ^[8]. Losses of horticultural products in Egypt are presented in Table 3. FAO alerted about increased rate of food losses and waste in Egypt which reaches about 50% in vegetables and fruits, 40% in fish, 30% in milk and the amount of wheat losses and waste reaches 1.5 million tons/per annum. Additionally, wheat, tomato and orange losses and waste cost the government about 11 million EGP/annually, and about 650,000 tons of maize besides 350,000 tons of beet are wasted annually ^[31].

According to FAO ^[8], causes of FLW in NENA region are: lack of appropriate policy and regulatory framework; institutional weaknesses; and inadequate and weak infrastructural base. The region suffers from very low cold chain capacity. Poor maintenance and management practices are another major factor concerning the infrastructure in the region. Wholesale and retail markets in the region are often small, overcrowded, unsanitary and lacking cooling equipment, and adequate facilities for loading, unloading, ripening, consumer packaging and temporary storage.

Table 3. Horticultural products losses in Egypt

Download as

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

3.2. Household Cereals and Bakery Products Waste in Target Arab Countries: Survey Results

Results of the survey show that household food waste is widespread in all countries. Only few respondents declare that they do not waste any food (Table 4).

Table 4. Level of household food waste (% of respondents)

Download as

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

The survey provided some interesting information about the amounts of uneaten food wasted. The quantity of thrown food per week depends on different factors including household composition. In Algeria, 47% of respondents declare that they are wasting a very small amount of food, and 29% say they waste a reasonable amount, but 4% admit they are throwing away much more than they should. Unfortunately, only 1% of respondents said that they waste no food in their homes. About 21% of surveyed people say they throw less than 250 gr per week, while 13% throws between 250 gr and 500 gr. Those that throw away larger quantities are a minority, for example only 2% of respondents throw 2kg per week.

In Egypt, about 53% of respondents indicated that they dispose “very little” amount of uneaten food, as they try to minimize household food waste since they are worried and aware about food waste impacts, and about 29.3% throw reasonable amount of uneaten food. As for the extent of food waste, about 17.7% throw less than 250 gr while16.6% throw between 250 and 500 gr.

In Lebanon, the amount of uneaten food thrown out by respondents’ households was not perceived to be particularly excessive; 49% indicated they throw out “very little” and 30% indicated they threw out “a reasonable amount”. Only 5% of respondents indicated they throw out “more food than they should”. Additionally, 15% reported that they do not throw out food at all. Regarding the quantity of food thrown away, around 18.6% throw less than 250 gr of food in a week and 23 % throw more than 250 gr per week.

In Morocco, 50% of the respondents estimated that a very small amount of food is wasted in their households in comparison with 20% of them who consider that they waste much more than it should not. A quarter of them assume that the food waste quantity at the household is reasonable. Only 3% of them considered that no food is wasted in their household. About 39% of respondents affirm that their households throw away at least 250gr of still consumable food each week. It is worth highlighting that according to the survey results, 55% of respondents waste food even if the quantity wasted is generally small.

As for Tunisia, the survey revealed that the generation of food waste per capita per week is higher than 250gr for 37.1% of respondents and less than 250gr for 23.5% of respondents. More than 39% percent of the respondents stated that they do not throw away any edible food, whereas only 1.8% household conceded that they dispose of more than 2 kg. It should be highlighted that the food waste generated by the respondents out of home in hotels, restaurants, canteens, take away, coffee shops, etc. was not subject of the survey. The average value of food waste is 606 gr per person/week. A simple extrapolation of these figures to the entire population of the country results in 292,000 tons of food wasted per year in Tunisia. Food waste amount changes from a period of the year to another. Attitudes may change according to periods especially in Ramadan. Most of respondents declared that FW is higher during this fasting month in all targeted Mediterranean Arab countries (i.e. Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia), due to the high quantity of food purchased and prepared but never eaten.

A high share of Algerian respondents (88 %) admit that food waste significantly increases; food waste during Ramadan reaches its peak, even though many weeks before the holy month the government and different NGOs launch several campaigns to fight against this negative phenomenon. The National Union of Algerian Traders and Artisans (UGCAA) gave alarming details such that out of 4.1 billion of bread sticks bought during Ramadan, 120 million go in the trash; 12 million of the 150 million litres of milk purchased during the holy month are discarded; Algerians throw 500,000 quintals of vegetables over 10 million quintals purchased during the fasting period. The absence of an appropriate consumption culture is behind the 20% increase of the purchase of highly consumed products during Ramadan. According to UGCAA the cost of food waste is expected to exceed 5 billion dinars (about 50 million Euros) during the month of Ramadan of 2015. The Algerian Ministry of Commerce addresses this problem at Ramadan eve, through a formal ad broadcast by the media to the public.

In Egypt, respondents indicated that food waste increase in the Holy Month of Ramadan as mentioned by 75.7% of the respondents. It is evident that Egyptians' food purchases during Ramadan soar beyond all other monthly consumer averages, straining the efforts of ministers concerned with supply and domestic trade to keep up with demand. According to a recent study carried out by the National Centre for Social and Criminal Research (NCSCR), at least 60% of food on an average Egyptian family, and more than 75% of food in a banquet, goes to waste, which is to say tossed into the rubbish bin, during this month.

In Morocco, according to 87 % of respondents FW increases during the fasting month of Ramadan. This is due to increased difficulty of planning meals during this month. In fact, many households in Morocco use to cook more than what they can eat for fast breaking. Therefore, this highlights the importance of organizing awareness raising campaigns before and during the month of Ramadan in order to reduce FW.

In the Islamic culture food is a bestowed, proliferating gift (i.e. Baraka) from Allah Almighty, and misuse or overuse of it is not accepted morally. Moreover, the period of Ramadan stands for Muslims for abstinence and sobriety. Yet there is a paradoxical phenomenon: the holy month is also the time when food wastage highs up to folds compared to the rest of the year. Households tend to borrow too much during the holy month to buy agro-food products they, often, do not need and cannot consume.

The uneaten food is managed in different ways by respondents’ households. Sometimes, the same household uses different uneaten food management strategies. In Algeria, 46% confirmed that they end up in the trash, while 47 % said that the remaining food is given to animals, 13% donate it to the needy people, and 6% transform it into compost. Meanwhile 41.4% of the Egyptian respondents give the remained food to animals, but this happens in rural areas, as well as some urban districts were people raise mainly poultry. About 35% said they dispose it in the garbage. In Lebanon, a high percentage of participants discard uneaten food in garbage bins (50%), whereas around 30% of respondents feed uneaten food to animals. About 15% of participants donate uneaten food for people in need, and 5% use uneaten food for compost production. In Morocco, the survey showed that, unfortunately, 69% of respondents throw the uneaten food in the trash. However, an important part of respondents (24%) manage uneaten food in good way by giving it as donation. Meanwhile, some respondents use uneaten food to feed animals (24%) or to produce compost (2.5%). While, these two last uneaten food management strategies are clearly better than throwing it in the trash, they do not represent anyway good strategies for FW reduction as also food fed to animals or used to produce compost is to be considered as wasted food.

The extent of FW varies from a food group to another. The most wasted product groups are cereals and bakery products, fruits and vegetables (Table 5). In general, perishable products are the most wasted food. In Algeria, cereals and bakery products are the most wasted products. Actually 20% of cereals and derivatives are thrown, followed by vegetables and dairy products. In Egypt, the survey results showed that 16.5% of the respondents waste more than 6% of purchased cereals and bakery products. As for cereals and bakery products, 18% of Lebanese respondents throw away more than 6% of the purchased quantity of these foodstuffs.

In Morocco, the survey showed that the most wasted food group in the Moroccan context is cereals and the bakery products, followed by fruits, vegetables. The high percentage of cereal and bakery products that is wasted is a big environmental and economic problem considering the high amount of these products, especially bread, are consumed by Moroccans. This is also a political issue in Morocco, as bread is subsidized in the kingdom, so bread waste is considered also as a waste of public budget and, consequently tax payers’ money. It is interesting to notice that, not only perishability, but also price is an important factor in determining the extent FW. In fact, meat and meat products, and fish and sea food that are also perishable products, but quite expensive, are among the least wasted foods.

In all Tunisian locations the highest percentage (more than 30%) of foods that are thrown away sometimes or often relates to fruit, vegetables, cereals, legumes/seeds, milk, bread, fish and roots and tubercles. Survey data revealed that cereal and bakery products such as bread, rice and pasta followed by vegetables, milk and milk products are the largest contributors to food waste. As for bread, 81.5% of the Tunisian respondents declare that they throw bread when they do not finish eating it.

Table 5. Estimated quantity (in %) of purchased food thrown away in Mediterranean Arab countries (n=1122)

Download as

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

The economic value of food waste generated each month is more than 6US$ mainly in Lebanon (Table 6). Economic value of household wasted food depends not only on wasted amount (so also on household composition), and the composition of FW, but also on household food habits and consumption patterns. The survey found that only 52% of Algerian respondents are wasting less than 5 US$ per month in terms of food, while 40% waste between 6 and 20 US$ monthly, those whose economic value of food wasted in their home exceeds 51 US$ are only 2.2%. In Egypt, it was revealed that for about 78.5% of the respondents the economic value of wasted food is less than 35 EGP (less than 5$), while for 14.9% of the respondents economic value of wasted food is between 42 and 140 EGP (6 - 20$). Meanwhile 54% of the Lebanese respondents mentioned that it is between 6 and 20 US$. About 20% said that the value is less than 5 US$ while 7% declared to throw food at a value higher than 51 US$ per month. In Morocco, the value of household FW generated each month is more than 60 Moroccan Dirhams (10 MAD = 1US$) for 54% of respondents’ households. The weighted average economic value of the monthly FW generated by each responding Moroccan household is about 100 MAD. This value represents around 13% of the weighted food budget for the considered sample. In Tunisia, while the economic value of food wasted is less than 5 US$ per month for more than a half of respondents, it is more than 21 US$ for 6.4% of the sample.

Table 6. Value of food waste generated per month (in percentage of respondents)

Download as

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table