This was as the globe was celebrating World Environment Day on Friday 5 June. This year the theme for World Environment Day is ‘Seven billion dreams. One planet. Consume with care’.
A study by Dr Suzan Oelofse, researcher for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, shows South Africans annually waste nine million tons of locally produced food. This is equivalent to 31,4% of the country’s average annual food production. The total cost of food waste in the entire value chain is R61,5 billion, equal to 2,1% of South Africa’s GDP.
The total water loss resulting from food wastage in South Africa was equal to 22% of the total water used for local crop production, said Oelofse.
