Throughout the developed world, food is treated as a disposable commodity. Between
one third and half of all food produced for human consumption globally is estimated to
be wasted. However, attempts to quantify the actual magnitude of food wasted globally
are constrained by limited data, particularly from developing countries. This paper
attempts to quantify total food waste generation (including both pre-consumer food
losses and post-consumer food waste) in South Africa. The estimates are based on
available food supply data for South Africa and on estimates of average food waste
generation at each step of the food supply chain for sub-Saharan Africa as reported in
Gustavsson et al. (2011). The preliminary estimate of the magnitude of food loss and
food waste generation in South Africa is in the order of 9.04 million tonnes per annum.
On a per capita basis, overall food loss in South Africa in 2007 is estimated at 177
kg/capita/annum and consumption waste at 7 kg/capita/annum. However, these
preliminary figures should be used with caution and are subject to verification through
ongoing research.