The government is taking steps to arrest the scourge of millions of tons of food wastage each year, in a move that might see grocery retailers adapt their business model to reduce food wastage and usher in a regulated food-donation regime.
The state this week published its strategy for reducing food losses. An estimated 12.6-million tonnes of food is wasted per year in South Africa. This as about 60% of South African households are food insecure.
One of the proposals put on the table is for retailers to optimise packaging. This will see companies encouraged to invest in the latest packaging innovations to increase the shelf life of food.
The government is also talking about promoting targeted approaches like food donation regulations, subsidies, grants and tax credits. The state also wants investment in research to investigate possible ways to reduce food wastage.
“The main drivers of food waste include population growth and urbanisation, which require both increased agricultural production and more complex distribution, processing, and retail value chains to be in place. “Changes in diet and food preferences in middle-income countries such as South Africa tend towards more resources intensive production.
“Lack of capacity and awareness of the impact of food waste and the disparity in service between urban and rural areas exacerbate the food waste problem,” reads the consultation on the draft strategy published by the department of forestry, fisheries and environment.
Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) shows that 11.6% of households experienced hunger in 2021, The high levels of food wastage, estimated to have cost R61 5-billion annually, has raised concerns that if the matter is not addressed, it could cause instability in the country.
“With about 31 million tonnes of food being produced every year, a staggering 10 million tonnes of that food ends up on landfills before it even makes it to consumers’ shopping trolleys.
“This massive loss in produce is largely attributed to the production process – either before or during the harvesting process – and processing and packaging, whereby perfectly nutritious food items are set aside due to these not meeting strict specification requirements. As a result, millions of people are left with empty plates,” StatsSA stated.
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