Food Loss and Waste in Saudi Arabia: Analysis, Causes, and Interventions

Food lossFood loss and waste (FLW) isIntervention a major concern globally due to its economic, environmental, and behavioral impacts. This chapter aims to analyze the FLW situation in Saudi Arabia for various food products and identify their main causes. It also highlights FLW hotspots along the food supply chainFood supply chain, economic and environmental impactsEnvironmental impact, and interventionsIntervention to reduce FLW globally. The results indicate that about one-third of the food available for consumptionConsumption in Saudi Arabia is wasted through FLW. The percentage of FLW varies between different products and stages of the food supply chainFood supply chain, including productionProduction, post-harvest, packing distribution, and consumptionConsumption. In Saudi Arabia, FLW is particularly high for watermelon, tomatoTomato, unclassified fruitsFruit, vegetablesVegetables, and meatMeat, cucumber, zucchini, and potato. Additionally, FLW represents around one-third of flourFlour and breadBread, riceRice, carrot, camelCamel, and poultryPoultry products. The top five products lost in terms of volume are flourFlour and breadBread, unclassified fruitsFruit, riceRice, poultryPoultry, and unclassified vegetablesVegetables. The top five products lost in terms of value are unclassified meatMeat, unclassified fruitsFruit, riceRice, unclassified vegetablesVegetables, and flourFlour-breadBread. The FLW percentage is highest for unclassified vegetablesVegetables, watermelon, poultryPoultry, mango, and riceRice along the FSC stages of productionProduction, post-harvest, packing, distribution, and consumptionConsumption, respectively. The chapter also highlights the causes of FLW in different food products and global interventionsIntervention in the upstreamUpstream, midstreamMidstream, and downstreamDownstream stages. In conclusion, there is an urgent need to raise awareness and implement legislation related to economic, legal, and behavioral dimensionsBehavioral dimension to reduce FLW at all levels.