Towards Sustainable Food System in Qatar: Household Food Waste and Consumption Behavior

Abstract

It has been proofed that food wastage can be recognized at all level of food life cycle i.e. harvesting, manufacturing, distributing however, the largest contribution to food waste is the consumption stage by household. According to Parfitt et al, 2010; WRI, 2013 “household food waste” is define as the total losses that occur at the end of food lifecycle, which is final consumption, we consider the issue of waste of food as a deeply rooted issue of consumption behaviors, (Den 2008; Bowman 2007; Dogs 2002), and many commentators argue that domestic food waste is strongly influenced by consumer behaviors (Wharton, 2014). In the Arab countries, especially in the Gulf countries, high levels of food waste of recorded due to the social customs and traditions that control consumption patterns. Research efforts on the waste of food in the State of Qatar is very few and does not cover all Food waste, production and consumption chain, which start from production through delivery, storage, packaging, selling, and consumption. Through computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) with 1684 respondents This study covered the stage after purchase and consumption, aimed to understand the attitudes and behavior of individuals in Qatar towards food waste , and to identify types of food are often wasted and estimated the amount of waste as well. Survey respondents provided reason of food waste and Results indicate that people have an awareness regard food waste Furthermore; the study found out having more children was associated with reduced food waste perception and high-income households were strongly associated with increase in perception of food wastage as the income increases. Moreover, family give the persons a sense of responsibility towards food waste.