ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF FOOD WASTE ON URBAN HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY STATUS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Abstract. To End hunger and ensure access by all people to nutritious and sufficient food all year round is one of the seventeen (17) Sustainable Developmental Goals. Achieving this in a country where about 12.9 million of her citizens are said to be undernourished require pragmatic and sustainable measures. It is in this regard that this study examined the likely effect of food waste on urban household food security status in Kwara State, Nigeria. Primary data was used in the study through the administration of structured questionnaire. This study employed a 3 stage random sampling techniques to obtain 120 households in Kwara State, Nigeria. With the use of the recommended daily calorie intake (2260Kcal), the result showed that 82.5% of the samples were food insecure. The results further showed that an average of 496.75Kcal of food was wasted per food secure households within the period of 7 days. A logistic regression model which included six (6) explanatory variables was estimated to elicit the determinants of household food security status. Household size, food waste quantity and household knowledge on food waste were found to influence food security in the study area. A Tobit regression model was used to identify the determinants of food waste. Household income was a major explanatory variable contributing to food waste in the study area. The study concluded that household food waste influences food insecurity in the study area. The recommended that awareness be created on the need for household to reduce food waste, most especially among high income earners.