Effects of COVID-19 on food waste in households in the city of Loja, Ecuador

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26867/se.2023.v12i1.149

Keywords:

Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Structural equations of partial least squares (PLS-SEM), Environmental awareness, Social norms

Abstract

In Ecuador, before the start of the global pandemic, 939 metric tons of food were wasted per year, which is equivalent to a loss of 332 million dollars per year. Thus, the present investigation tries to examine the effect of COVID-19 on food waste in households in the city of Loja during the pandemic. For this analysis, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Partial Least Squares Structural Equations (PLS-SEM) were used. The results obtained show that social norms, environmental awareness and COVID-19 have significant values and affect food waste in households in the city of Loja. Accordingly, if consumer behavior and habits had changed before the pandemic, food waste would have decreased. Therefore, it is important to promote food donation campaigns to the most needy people and, on the other hand, make a shopping list and create a meal plan to buy and prepare the necessary food and mitigate food waste in the city from Loja

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Published

2023-04-29

How to Cite

Ponce, P., & Medina, J. (2023). Effects of COVID-19 on food waste in households in the city of Loja, Ecuador. Semestre Económico, 12(1), 120–133. https://doi.org/10.26867/se.2023.v12i1.149

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Original Articles