A Socio-Cultural Factors Affecting Food Wastage in Pushtoon Society; A Case Study of Malakand Division

Abstract

Food wastage has escalated to be a major global and local concern that affects the society, economy, and culture of the world. Nevertheless, an estimated one-third of the food produced globally for human consumption is discarded every year, which equals 1.3 billion tons of food wasted worldwide. The Pashtun community is accustomed to wasting food as the food habits of the people are a significant determinant of the community's socio-cultural life, mainly the principles of hospitality, pride, and bragging. The food left over at weddings, religious festivals, and community gatherings is usually thrown away as these events are the cultural milieus that revolve around the concepts of giving and wasting simultaneously. This research focusses the socio-cultural factor which are the main drivers of food wastage in the Malakand division in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The method for data collection in this research is quantitative in nature where data were collected from 295 respondents through a structured questionnaires carried out in four canteens in the nearby area. The results show that the primary reason for food wastage is the socio-economic status, cultural pressure, and class based imitation. Household belong to upper class waste more food as compared to lower class and flaunt their wealth, while the lower class or the low income people engage in such practices although they have financial problems. The research finding suggests that the food wastage in pushtun society is mostly because of the cultural heritage, rich tradition, and social disparities in the community. The paper suggests that there is a need for proper measures to reduce these wastage of food, these measures can be promotion through media, food bank system, redistribution program, and involving local religious scholar to addressed this issue in Islamic context to reduce food wastage and safeguard the pushtun tradition and customs of generosity and hospitality.