Abstract
Food loss has been found to be a key contributor to unsustainable food systems. Its occurrence has negative social, economic and environmental implications. There have been previous studies on food loss, but they have not provided sufficient up to date, accurate, relevant and clear knowledge that is sufficient to provide significant outcomes.This study followed the definition of food loss used by FAO to research on the quantities of food loss, why they occur and how they can be addressed. Using the case study of fresh fruit and vegetables exported to the UK from Kenya, this research used a scoping study to identify hotspots of food loss in the supply chain. A mass balance analysis was then used to quantify food loss for five fruits (avocado, mango, mangetout, French beans, courgette) and five vegetables (tenderstem broccoli, baby spinach, baby sweetcorn, herbs, pak choi). This information was then combined with semi-structured interviews, to understand the causes of food loss, their drivers and strategies for addressing them to provide up to date, accurate, relevant and clear knowledge on food loss in this supply chain.
The study identified farms and packing houses as hotspots for food loss in this supply chain and the quantities of loss were weighed for the five fruit and vegetables in these hotspots. Higher losses of 3-78% occurred in packing houses as compared to 0-5% in farms. Rejects were the most common type of food loss and small-scale packing houses experienced higher losses than large-scale packing houses due to dehydration of produce and a greater difference between minimum and maximum amounts of losses.
The study also identified 14 causes and 32 drivers of food loss. The relationship between causes and drivers was analysed thematically, and the causes and drivers grouped into four types of drivers; customer-based drivers, climate-based drivers, produce-based drivers and logistics-based drivers. The strategies identified by interviewees to address these drivers were prioritizing the prevention of food loss over the reduction or management of the losses, fairer trading practices, support for small-scale businesses and government interventions through subtle influence, mandates, incentives and information provision to address food loss.
This research recommends the inclusion of “and/or”, “customer-specific” and “edible matter” in the current FAO definition of food loss. It also offers recommendations to businesses and policy makers.
Businesses (farms and packing houses) are encouraged to: -
-join cooperatives and associations
-include food loss as a key performance indicator
-carry out open communication on realities of food loss
-advocate for contracts written in simple language
-prioritize investment into food loss prevention infrastructure and equipment
-help empower small-scale businesses to meet the production capacity
Policy makers (the government of Kenya) are urged to: -
-carefully consider definitions of the causes they champion
-collect baseline data for those causes
-set up an Unfair Trading Practices enforcement authority
-set up a one-stop website for all export-related information
-produce a legal framework for the redistribution and recycling of fresh food
-finance small-scale farms and packing houses to improve training, extension services and credit access
-provide reliable information on how to create and join cooperatives and associations
-seek more international markets for export produce
-improve efficiency of customs services
-keep the cost of production low
-conduct intergovernmental discussions on replacement of banned and counterfeit farm chemicals
-carry out mass sensitizations and campaigns on local consumption of exported fresh fruit and vegetables.
| Date of Award | 29 Apr 2026 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Diana Da Silva Feliciano (Supervisor) & Jo Smith (Supervisor) |