Food Wastage Footprint, Food Security, Environment and Economic Growth Nexus in Developing Countries

Abstract

FAO estimates that each year, approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption in the world is lost or wasted. This food wastage represents a missed opportunity to improve global food security, but also to mitigate environmental impacts and resource use from food chains. This chapter attempts to identify the impact of food wastage, food security, and environmental quality on economic growth of developing countries from 1990 to 2021. Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) has been used to estimate the results. The findings indicate that food wastage, food access, and environment have a negative effect while food availability and food security have a positive effect on economic growth. To the best of our knowledge, no study has yet analyzed the impacts of food wastage on economic growth from an environmental and food security perspective. This study provides a worldwide account of the environmental footprint of food wastage along the food security, focusing on impacts on environmental quality, as well as an economic quantification based on economic growth.