SDG12 Responsible consumption and production

An econometric analysis of the cost of fruit and vegetable waste in retail operations in Durban City, KwaZulu-Natal Province

2026-07-15T10:44:56Z

An econometric analysis of the cost of fruit and vegetable waste in retail operations in Durban City, KwaZulu-Natal Province Khuzwayo, Makhosazane Food waste has become a major global sustainability challenge with significant envi-ronmental, economic, and social implications. In South Africa, approximately 10.3 mil-lion tonnes of food are wasted annually, resulting in substantial economic losses across the food supply chain. Despite increasing concern regarding food waste, lim-ited empirical research has focused on the economic costs and operational determi-nants of fruit and vegetable waste within retail operations particularly in urban contexts such as Durban. This study aimed to quantify the cost and monetary value of fruit and vegetable waste in retail operations in Durban City, KwaZulu-Natal Province and to identify the factors influencing waste generation. The study further sought to propose pathways for reduc-ing fruit and vegetable waste within retail environments. A positivist research paradigm and quantitative cross-sectional research design were adopted. Data was collected from 100 selected retail stores located within the Durban Central Business District using structured questionnaires, waste composition analysis, and direct observation methods. Cluster sampling was used to group retail stores within four precincts of Durban CBD. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple linear regres-sion and ordinal logistic regression through SPSS and Microsoft Excel. The findings revealed that leafy vegetables constituted the highest category of fruit and vegetable waste while berries generated relatively lower waste volumes but higher monetary losses due to their high market value. The multiple regression model indi-cated that the predictor variables collectively explained a significant proportion of the variation in food waste costs (R2=0.971, p<0.001). However, at the individual level, only the total quantity of fruits and vegetables sold per month significantly influenced food waste costs, while landfill disposal costs were not statistically significant inde-pendent predictor. The ordinal logistic regression results showed that none of the op-erational predictor variables independently explained food waste generation, suggest-ing that food waste within retail environments is systemic and multifactorial. Retailers identified infrastructure limitations, handling practices, demand forecasting chal-lenges, and awareness as important contributors to food waste generation. The study viii contributes to the limited body of knowledge on retail fruit and vegetable waste quan-tification within South Africa and provides evidence-based recommendations aligned with the National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS). The study recommends in-tegrated interventions focusing on awareness, improved planning and forecasting, in-frastructure investment, redistribution initiatives and technology-based waste manage-ment systems to reduce fruit and vegetable waste within retail operations.; Imfucuza yokudla isibe yinselele enkulu yokuzinza emhlabeni wonke enemiphumela ebalulekile kwezemvelo, kwezomnotho, kanye nakwezenhlalo. ENingizimu Afrika, cishe amathani ayizigidi eziyi-10.3 okudla ayachithwa minyaka yonke, okuholela eku-lahlekelweni okukhulu kwezomnotho kulo lonke uchungechunge lokuhlinzekwa ko-kudla. Naphezu kokukhathazeka okwandayo mayelana nemfucuza yokudla, ucwan-ingo olulinganiselwe olusekelwe emibonweni luye lwagxila ezindleleni zomnotho kanye nasezicini zokusebenza kwemfucuza yezithelo nemifino emisebenzini yokuthengisa ikakhulukazi ezindaweni zasemadolobheni njengeTheku. Lolu cwaningo luhlose ukulinganisa izindleko kanye nenani lemali lemfucuza yezithelo nemifino emisebenzini yokuthengisa eDolobheni laseTheku, eSifundazweni saKwa-Zulu-Natali kanye nokuhlonza izici ezithonya ukukhiqizwa kwemfucuza. Ucwaningo luqhubeke nokuzama izindlela zokunciphisa imfucuza yezithelo nemifino ezindaweni zokuthengisa. Kwamukelwa indlela yokucwaninga ekhuthazayo kanye nomklamo wocwaningo oluhlanganisa izingxenye eziningana. Idatha yaqoqwa ezitolo zo-kuthengisa eziyi-100 ezikhethiwe eziseSifundeni Sebhizinisi Esiphakathi saseT-hekwini kusetshenziswa imibuzo ehlelekile, ukuhlaziywa kokwakheka kwemfucuza, kanye nezindlela zokubuka ngqo. Ukusampula kweqembu kwasetshenziswa ukuqoqa izitolo zokuthengisa ngaphakathi kwezindawo ezine ze-CBD yaseThekwini. Idatha yahlaziywa kusetshenziswa izibalo ezichazayo, ukuhlehla okuqondile okuningi kanye nokuhlehla kwe-ordinal logistic nge-SPSS kanye ne-Microsoft Excel. Okutholakele kwembule ukuthi imifino enamaqabunga yakha isigaba esiphezulu sem-fucuza yezithelo nemifino kuyilapho amajikijolo ekhiqiza inani eliphansi lemfucuza kodwa elahlekelwa kakhulu yimali ngenxa yenani lawo eliphezulu lemakethe. Imodeli yokubuyela emuva okuningi ibonise ukuthi iziguquguquli zokubikezela zichaze ingxenye enkulu yokwehluka kwezindleko zemfucuza yokudla (R2=0.971, p<0.001). Kodwa-ke, ezingeni lomuntu ngamunye, inani eliphelele lezithelo nemifino ethen-giswayo ngenyanga kuphela elithonye kakhulu izindleko zemfucuza yokudla, kuyilapho izindleko zokulahla imfucuza zazingeyona into ebikezela ngokuzimela ebaluleke kakhulu ngokwezibalo. Imiphumela yokubuyela emuva kwe-ordinal logistic ibonise ukuthi azikho iziguquguquli zokusebenza ezichaza ngokuzimela ukukhiqizwa x kwemfucuza yokudla, okuphakamisa ukuthi imfucuza yokudla ezindaweni zo-kuthengisa ihlelekile futhi inezici eziningi. Abathengisi bathole imikhawulo yengqal-asizinda, imikhuba yokuphatha, izinselele zokubikezela isidingo, kanye nokuqwashisa njengezinto ezibalulekile ezibangela ukukhiqizwa kwemfucuza yokudla. Ucwaningo lufaka isandla olwazini olulinganiselwe mayelana nokulinganiswa kwemfucuza yezithelo nemifino ezitolo eNingizimu Afrika futhi lunikeza izincomo ezisekelwe ebufa-kazini ezihambisana ne-National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS). Ucwaningo luncoma ukungenelela okuhlanganisiwe okugxile ekuqwashiseni, ekuhleleni naseku-bikezeleni okuthuthukisiwe, ekutshalweni kwezimali kwengqalasizinda, ekusat-shalalisweni kabusha kwezinhlelo kanye nezinhlelo zokuphathwa kwemfucuza esekelwe kubuchwepheshe ukuze kuncishiswe imfucuza yezithelo nemifino emisebenzini yokuthengisa.; Voedselvermorsing het 'n groot wêreldwye volhoubaarheidsuitdaging geword met beduidende omgewings-, ekonomiese en sosiale implikasies. In Suid-Afrika word on-geveer 10,3 miljoen ton voedsel jaarliks vermors, wat lei tot aansienlike ekonomiese verliese regdeur die voedselvoorsieningsketting. Ten spyte van toenemende kommer oor voedselvermorsing, het beperkte empiriese navorsing gefokus op die ekonomiese koste en operasionele determinante van vrugte- en groentevermorsing binne klein-handelbedrywighede, veral in stedelike kontekste soos Durban. Herdie studie het ten doel gehad om die koste en monetêre waarde van vrugte- en groentevermorsing in kleinhandelbedrywighede in Durban Stad, KwaZulu-Natal Provinsie, te kwantifiseer en die faktore wat afvalgenerering beïnvloed, teidentifiseer. Die studie het verder gepoog om paaie voor te stel vir die vermindering van vrugte- en groentevermorsing binne kleinhandelomgewings. 'n Positivistiese navorsingspara-digma en kwantitatiewe dwarssnitnavorsingsontwerp is aangeneem. Data is in-gesamel van 100 geselekteerde kleinhandelwinkels in die Durban Sentrale Sakege-bied deur gebruik te maak van gestruktureerde vraelyste, afvalsamestellingsanalise en direkte waarnemingsmetodes. Trossteekproefneming is gebruik om kleinhandel-winkels binne vier gebiede van Durban CBD te groepeer. Data is geanaliseer met behulp van beskrywende statistieke, veelvuldige lineêre regressie en ordinale logistiese regressie deur SPSS en Microsoft Excel. Die bevindinge het aan die lig gebring dat blaargroente die hoogste kategorie van vrugte- en groente-afval uitmaak, terwyl bessies relatief laer afvalvolumes, maar hoër monetêre verliese as gevolg van hul hoë markwaarde, gegenereer het. Die meervoudige regressiemodel het aangedui dat die voorspellerveranderlikes gesamentlik 'n beduidende deel van die variasie in voedselafvalkoste verklaar het (R2=0.971, p<0.001). Op individuele vlak het slegs die totale hoeveelheid vrugte en groente wat per maand verkoop is, egter voedselafvalkoste beduidend beïnvloed, ter-wyl stortingsterreinverwyderingskoste nie statisties beduidende onafhanklike voor-speller was nie. Die ordinale logistiese regressie-resultate het getoon dat geeneen van die operasionele voorspellerveranderlikes onafhanklik die opwekking van voed-selafval verklaar het nie, wat daarop dui dat voedselafval binne kleinhandelomgewings xii sistemies en multifaktoriaal is. Kleinhandelaars het infrastruktuurbeperkings, hanter-ingspraktyke, vraagvoorspellingsuitdagings en bewustheid as belangrike bydraers tot die opwekking van voedselafval geïdentifiseer. Die studie dra by tot die beperkte hoev-eelheid kennis oor die kwantifisering van kleinhandel-vrugte- en groente-afval in Suid-Afrika en verskaf bewysgebaseerde aanbevelings wat in lyn is met die Nasionale Afvalbestuurstrategie (NWMS). Die studie beveel geïntegreerde intervensies aan wat fokus op bewustheid, verbeterde beplanning en voorspelling, infrastruktuurbelegging, herverdelingsinisiatiewe en tegnologie-gebaseerde afvalbestuurstelsels om vrugte- en groentevermorsing binne kleinhandelbedrywighede te verminder.

Assessing consumer attitudes and behaviour towards green products in Namibia

2026-02-28T05:58:59Z

Assessing consumer attitudes and behaviour towards green products in Namibia Mudimba, Douglas The global emphasis on sustainability and environmental responsibility is increasing, leading to a growing shift in consumer trends towards sustainable consumption and eco-conscious lifestyles. This study aimed to provide a more comprehensive understanding of consumers' intentions and behaviours regarding purchasing green products in Namibian retail supermarkets. It sought to assess consumer attitudes and behaviours towards green products in retail supermarkets in Windhoek, Namibia, specifically utilising the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Norm Activation Model (NAM) as integrated theoretical frameworks. Adopting a positivist research philosophy and a deductive approach, the study employed a quantitative research design using a survey strategy. Data were collected from a sample of 385 consumers aged 18 - 65 years in Windhoek, Namibia, using a convenience sampling technique via face-to-face mall-intercept structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling with SmartPLS 4, assessing measurement model reliability and validity. The findings indicate generally acceptable reliability and validity of the measurement model, although potential discriminant validity issues were observed between specific construct pairs, notably Personal Norms and Subjective Norms. The structural model analysis revealed that all hypothesised direct relationships were statistically significant. Awareness of Consequences positively influenced Attitude. Ascription of Responsibility positively influenced Personal Norms. Attitude positively influenced both Behavioural Intention and Purchase Behaviour. Behavioural Intention positively influenced Purchase Behaviour. Perceived Behavioural Control positively influenced both Behavioural Intention and Purchase Behaviour. Personal Norms positively influenced Behavioural Intention. Subjective Norms positively influenced Attitude, Behavioural Intention, and Purchase Behaviour. Significant mediating effects were also identified: Attitude mediated the relationship between Awareness of Consequences and Behavioural Intention, and between Awareness of Consequences and Purchase Behaviour. Personal Norms mediated the relationship between Ascription of Responsibility and Behavioural Intention. Attitude mediated the relationship between Subjective Norms and Behavioural Intention. Behavioural Intention mediated the relationships between Attitude and Purchase Behaviour, Perceived Behavioural Control and Purchase Behaviour, Personal Norms and Purchase Behaviour, and Subjective Norms and Purchase Behaviour. The model explained moderate variance in Behavioural Intention (42.8%) and Attitude (31.2%), and weaker but acceptable variance in Purchase Behaviour (26.7%) and Personal Norms (22.5%). Model fit indicators demonstrated a good fit between the integrated TPB-NAM model and the empirical data. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing valuable insights into green consumption in the under-researched Namibian context. The findings support the theoretical value of integrating TPB and NAM for understanding sustainable consumer behaviour, highlighting the interplay of cognitive, moral, and social factors. The significant influence of both normative and cognitive factors on purchase intentions and behaviour was demonstrated. The moderate R² for purchase behaviour also points to the widely acknowledged intention-behaviour gap in sustainable consumption and suggests the influence of unmeasured contextual factors. The study provides valuable insights for supermarkets on how to better understand and influence consumer behaviour towards green products, aligning with Namibia's sustainable development agenda.

Determinants of challenges of smallholder and emerging sheep and goat farmers in Thabo Mofutsanyana district municipality, Free State Province

2025-01-20T11:05:00Z

Determinants of challenges of smallholder and emerging sheep and goat farmers in Thabo Mofutsanyana district municipality, Free State Province Kgomongwe, Mmakhuduga Neriath Developing countries rely heavily on smallholder and emerging farmers to ensure food security but despite this, farmers face many challenges that hinder them from producing efficiently, forcing them to focus on home consumption over market-driven farming, to ensure a sustainable and self-reliant farming practice. Smallholder farmers remain with challenges in securing capital to purchase agricultural inputs, pay for transport to sell agricultural outputs, and to invest in agricultural machinery. Sometimes farmers find themselves in difficult situations where they are forced to get credit from illegal moneylenders, at high interest rates or sell their produce at a reduced price to receive cash, and they still need to cover their expenditure for survival. Amongst others, farming resources, land as well as comprehensive agricultural support restrict smallholder and emerging farmers' access to valuable markets. The aim of this study was to identify and analyse the determinants of challenges of smallholder and emerging sheep and goat farmers in the study area by highlighting key factors in order to create an enabling environment for the farmers to improve livestock management, production, income and valuable markets. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 145 participants from a pool sampling frame of 251 participants. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data by interviewing 145 selected smallholder farmers. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 28.0, was used to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics and the probit regression model were used to analyse the determinants of the managerial, production, marketing and financial challenges for smallholder and emerging sheep and goat farmers. The results of the study show that only 19% of the participants had business plans and the absence of business plans impacted on farm and livestock management negatively. The probit results indicated that the age of the respondents, off-farm activities and access to market information had a positive and significant association with managerial challenges. This implies that the older a farm owner gets the more they will likely experience managerial challenges. It is recommended that youth and women must be encouraged to engage in sheep and goat farming for better management and that farmers must focus their attention on livestock farming instead of off-farm income-generating activities. The Department of Agriculture and municipalities should initiate extension programme that focus on farm and livestock management as well as access to market information. Furthermore, the results indicate that 89% of farmers aspire to increase production, however challenges such as size of land (29%), distance to the market (21%) and no access to the market (17%) are some of the factors that hinder farmers from achieving their goal of increasing scale of production. The results also indicate that 42% of farmers do not receive veterinary services while about 63.4% do not access feed in times of drought. Additionally, the results indicate that age, size of household, level of education, role of respondent, farm management records, cost per trip to the market, total number of sheep sold in 2019 have a positive and significant association with production challenges, with all other factors held constant. This implies that the older a farm owner gets the more likely they will experience production challenges. To manage production challenges, farmers need the support of younger people i.e., youth in the farm and must hire farm managers and utilise farm management records effectively. The more a farmer spends on trips to the market, they are more likely they will experience marketing challenges. An increasing size of household negatively impacts on farmers’ finances and time as a farmer will dedicate the two to the family instead of on farm production. Farmer must not sell sheep in high numbers so that they do not compromise the breeding herd. The study’s results indicate that only 28% of participants have received financial support from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), while 17.12% of participants applied for loans and about 8% of loan applications were rejected. The results revealed that access to financial support impacts negatively on the farm and livestock business. Furthermore, the probit results indicated that gender, age, level of education, engage in off-farm income generating activity, have farm business plan, access to agricultural information, size of land, cost per single trip to the market, total number of sheep sold have a positive and significant association with financial challenges. It is therefore recommended that farmers be encouraged to have business plan, sell more sheep, and focus on the farm instead of off-farm income generating activities for better financial management. DARD and municipalities should initiate funding programmes that focus on farm, sheep, and goat livestock as well as production. The results also show that 59% of respondents indicated that there are other markets closer to the farm than where they are currently selling livestock and 63% of farmers have access to market information. Distance to the market, being unable to supply required quantities and not having contracts with markets are amongst the reasons for farmers not being able to supply other markets closer to their farm. The results indicate that from the challenges experienced, of respondents have a challenge with the size of land (15%), lack of transport (12%) and lack of finance (3%). Therefore, the results suggests that amongst others, farmers who are involved in day-to-day operations of the farm and have access to market information have a negative and significant association with marketing challenges, with all other factors held constant. The results indicate that the respondents have identified markets that are closer to their farms than where they are currently selling; however, majority of the respondents are selling their produce at the local market and around the community to avoid spending a lot of money per trip to the market. The findings also show that access to market information can improve farmers’ marketing challenge if used effectively. Text in English

Exploring the potential contribution of organic community food gardens for sustainability: the perspective of cultivators and consumers

2024-11-28T13:53:48Z

Exploring the potential contribution of organic community food gardens for sustainability: the perspective of cultivators and consumers Boshoff, Harriët Maria The exponential rise in global organic food product sales indicates a transformative shift in consumer preferences towards healthier, more sustainable, and environmentally conscious food choices. This qualitative study, grounded in an interpretivist paradigm, explored community food gardens’ potential contribution to sustainability based on cultivators of such gardens and consumers’ position on organic food products’ consumption in general. The research aimed to mitigate consumer barriers and enhance environmental, social, and economic sustainability for cultivators. Findings revealed South African consumers associated the term ‘organic’ with health and environmental benefits but stressed the need for accessible, affordable, and trustworthy organic food products. Consumers’ views on organic community gardens support sustainability, local engagement, and combating food scarcity. Cultivators emphasised fresh, nutritious produce and proposed educational programmes to overcome identified barriers. A holistic approach can optimise marketing opportunities, integrating word-of-mouth, online presence, education, and accessibility. The study recommends comprehensive consumer education, curricular integration, non-governmental organisation-led initiatives, transparent cultivator practices, supportive government policies, engagement with certification bodies, and targeted awareness campaigns to enhance consumer purchase intent and sustain local organic community gardens.