Food waste and the contest of incentives: Egypt as a case study

Abdullah Ibrahim Omran

Chapter 8 in Food Security and Islamic Ethics, 2025, pp 187-209 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Food loss and waste (FLW) is essential to food security because it represents a mismanagement of unused utility, the avoidance of which will fill a significant food need in disadvantaged economies, such as Egypt. Because the reduction of FLW across the food supply chain creates different outcomes for various interest groups, the perception of self-gain is critical to motivating action at individual and collective levels. This chapter contributes to the debate by investigating how Islamic ethics deploy a number of strategies that together encourage responsible food-related behavior and maximize the utility of food to ensure a sustainable food supply. By exploring self-gain through a contrast between the promises of Islamic ethics and material culture, this chapter argues that ethically incentivized solutions rely on religious commitment, in need of a large-scale organizational entity such as a food bank to ensure the sustainable minimization of FLW. The ethical strategies discussed are extracted from the general directives of Maqāṣid al-Shariʻah, particularly the protection of life and wealth. Intertwining Maqāṣid and ethics shows that a material perception of self-gain threatens efforts of FLW minimization, whereas a selfless perception of gain is comparatively sustainable.

Keywords: Food loss; Food ethics; Supply chain; Food waste; Egypt (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035333578
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