Reducing Food Waste
In the OIC Member Countries
COMCEC
Table 2: Estimated household food waste per surveyed country, per year
Country (Kgs)
Afghanistan 2,820
Benin 48
Cameroon 304
Saehi Arabia 716
Senegal 1,218
Terkty 1,445
Uzbekistan 2,543
Source: Field survey results: Cameroon, SaudiArabia & Turkey: 100 household and 100food service establishments;
Afghanistan, Benin, Senegal and Uzbekistan: 20 household and 20food service establishments.
Household food waste
Households most commonly throw away fruit, vegetables and bakery products. Milk is rarely
discarded. Within households, the findings suggest the main causes for food waste are concerns
about food poisoning or food reaching its expiry date, and cooking or serving too much. Whilst
many households noted they do use shopping lists and plan meals in advance, there is still a
tendency to over-purchase, and this was sometimes down to the influence of promotions.
Table 3 provides a summary of estimated food service sector food waste per surveyed country,
and Table 4 drink waste.
Table 3: Estimated food service food waste, per survey country, per year
Country (Kgs)
Afghanistan 2,686
Benin 2,628
Cameroon 1,562
Saehi Arabia 403
Senegal 9,064
Turkey 3,782
Uzbekistan 2,133
Source: Field survey results: Cameroon, SaudiArabia & Turkey: 100 household and 100food service establishments;
Afghanistan, Benin, Senegal and Uzbekistan: 20 household and 20food service establishments.
The main reasons the food service sector generates food waste is due to too much food being
prepared (e.g. unsure of customer numbers], food reaching its expiry date, customers ordering
too much, and the stigma attached to customers taking leftovers home. Many felt their
customers’ behavior was the biggest driver for food waste, with a number referencing children
as culprits. Buffets as a serving option created the most waste for all respondents. The main food
types thrown away were fruit, vegetables and salad, meat, chicken, fish and milk.
4