Short Abstract

This panel explores food loss and waste in African food systems through policy, economic and Resource Nexus perspectives, examining how interventions can generate synergies while creating unintended environmental, resource and socioeconomic trade-offs.

Long Abstract

Food loss and waste (FLW) is increasingly recognised as a challenge extending beyond waste management, with implications for food security, livelihoods, environmental sustainability and resource efficiency. Across African food systems, losses may occur at multiple stages, from production and post-harvest handling to storage, transport, processing, retail and consumption, while the drivers and impacts vary considerably across contexts.

This panel invites interdisciplinary contributions examining FLW through the interconnected lenses of food-system governance, economic incentives and the Resource Nexus. It asks how policies, institutions, markets and interventions shape where and why food is lost or wasted, and whether current approaches effectively address these underlying drivers.

Particular attention is given to policy coherence and to the potential synergies and trade-offs generated by FLW interventions. Investments in infrastructure, cold chains, redistribution, circular economy and valorisation may reduce losses and generate economic and food-security benefits, but may also create additional demands for water, energy, land, materials or other resources. Understanding these interdependencies is therefore essential for designing interventions that improve food-system sustainability rather than shifting environmental or economic pressures elsewhere.

The panel welcomes empirical and comparative research from different African regions, food value chains and scales, as well as methodological and policy-oriented contributions. By bringing together perspectives from development studies, economics, environmental research and African Studies, the panel seeks to examine FLW as a multidimensional governance and resource-allocation challenge.

Keywords: food loss and waste; African food systems; Resource Nexus; policy coherence; economic incentives; sustainability; circular economy; food security.

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