Food waste is becoming an important issue in light of population growth and global food security concerns.
However, data on food wastage are limited, especially for developing countries. Global estimates suggest
that households in developed countries waste more food than those in developing countries, but these
estimates are based on assumptions that have not been tested. We therefore set out to present primary
data relating to household food waste disposal for South Africa within the sub-Saharan African context.
As the Gauteng Province contributes about 45% of the total municipal waste generated in South Africa, the
case study area covers two of the large urban metropolitan municipalities in Gauteng, namely Ekurhuleni
and Johannesburg, with a combined population of 8.33 million, representing nearly 15% of the South
African population. Municipal solid waste characterisation studies using bulk sampling with randomised
grab sub-sampling were undertaken over a 6-week period during summer in 2014 (Johannesburg)
and 2016 (Ekurhuleni), covering a representative sample of the municipal waste collection routes from
households in each of the two surveyed municipalities. The food waste component of the household
waste (excluding garden waste) was 3% in Ekurhuleni and 7% in Johannesburg. The results indicate that
an average of 0.48 kg (Ekurhuleni) and 0.69 kg (Johannesburg) of food waste (including inedible parts)
is disposed of into the municipal bin per household per week in the two municipalities, respectively. This
translates into per capita food waste disposal of 8 kg and 12 kg per annum, respectively, in South Africa
as compared to the estimated 6–11 kg per annum in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia.
Medication Adherence of Elderly Citizens in Retirement Homes Through A Mobile Phone Adherence Monitoring Framework (Mpamf) for Developing Countries: A Case Study in South Africa
