A recent study by the Center for Economic Research (CREAD) revealed that the phenomenon of food waste will reach worrying proportions in Algeria in 2024.
Indeed, according to the CREAD survey, nearly a third (30%) of Algerians’ food ends up in the trash and in public landfills. The study also showed that Algerian families devote half (50%) of their expenses to satisfying “secondary needs”.
Commenting on these figures, Houari Mbarek Ghebazi, director of studies at the Institute, declared: “This ratio reveals real waste at the height of inflation, and despite the policy of rationalizing expenditure undertaken by the government. This figure is frightening and reflects the extent of waste in citizens’ consumption habits. »
“The (financial) crisis that Algeria is going through, underlines the same speaker, and the low purchasing power of citizens after the collapse of the value of the dinar nevertheless represent so many opportunities for Algerians to change their behavior and improve their lifestyle. »
Regarding the waste of bread, this food once sacred among Algerians, the situation is not much better…
Algerians throw away 7 million baguettes every day
The president of the National Federation of Bakers revealed that of the 27 million baguettes of bread produced every day by bakeries in Algeria, 7.2 million (or 27%) are not consumed. These 7 million baguettes of bread, explains the manager, serve, in the best case, as feed for poultry and livestock, otherwise, they end up in public landfills.
Faced with this observation, many specialists and consumer protection associations have sounded the alarm on the generalization of food waste among Algerians, particularly about subsidized products, wheat-based products in particular.
The economist Djamel Noureddine attributed this phenomenon to three factors: “The first factor,” he explains, “is psychological. It concerns the “ fear of shortage ” as supply crises worsen. The Algerian is afraid of entering the market or shopping centers and finding nothing, and to satisfy this feeling, he buys everything.”
The second factor, continues the expert, is linked to the social aspect. According to him, the existence within the same family of more than one income increases the lack of coordination in the purchasing process. As for the third factor, it arises from the consumption habits acquired during the period of financial prosperity that Algerians experienced between 2000 and 2013.”
But this model, warns the economist, no longer corresponds to today’s data, because the dinar has lost 30% of its value and the inflation rate is around 10%.”
