Socioeconomic determinants of food waste among households in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeris

D. Akerele, S.O. Afolayan, F.P. Oyawole and R.A. Sanusi

Nigerian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2017, vol. 07, issue 01

Abstract: Due to rapid urbanization, population growth, rising living standards as well as changing lifestyle and diets, food waste has emerged as a crucial issue with far reaching implications on food security and environmental sustainability in developing countries, including Nigeria. Consequently, this study examined socioeconomic factors influencing household food waste in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Data were collected using multi-stage sampling procedure, and analysed using descriptive statistics and Tobit regression. The average value of food waste was N1, 499.67 per month with cereals accounting for the largest percentage (27.97%) of total value of food waste. Food waste is mostly experienced during storage and as left-over across various food groups. The results of the Tobit regression model showed that gender and age of household, location of households (rural dummy), household income, type of work of household head, presence of children, presence of refrigerator and unawareness of the environmental effects of waste had varying significant influences on household food waste of different food groups in the study area. The study recommends that government should improve the level of infrastructure development (electricity), in order to encourage households to utilize refrigerators and other electricity dependent storage equipment, which can help reduce the amount of food waste. In addition, public enlightenment about the moral and environmental effects of food waste should be pursued vigorously.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Consumer/Household Economics; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:naaenj:268440

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.268440

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