Impacts of food losses on the nutrition of the population in Bulgaria

Reducing food loss and waste is a key part of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 on Responsible Consumption and Production. Specifically, target 12.3 aims to "halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels by 2030, and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.” Food loss refers to any food removed from the supply chain between maturity and sale, including inedible parts as these are integral to the marketed product. Our main hypothesis is that increased food loss results in a decreased food supply per person, subsequently reducing the ability to feed the population. We evaluated population nutrition using two indicators: average dietary energy supply adequacy and prevalence of undernourishment. The data comes from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). To analyze these relationships and process the data, we used a simultaneous equations model (SEM). After evaluating the SEM, we obtained the following results: losses of vegetal products do not have a direct or indirect influence on the two dependent variables. However, losses of animal products directly and indirectly affect the prevalence of undernourishment. In conclusion, there is a positive relationship between the loss of animal products and mediator variables. Greater losses lead to greater per capita supply. Additionally, there is a negative relationship between per capita supply and the prevalence of undernourishment. A larger per capita supply leads to a smaller prevalence of undernourishment.