Awareness of Strategies for Food Waste Reduction Among Households in Otukpo Local Government Benue State

Food waste is rapidly expanding worldwide and has become a problem affecting the environment, society and the community at large. It was observed that households face substantial challenges like limited resources and awareness in food waste reduction efforts. Generally, the study aimed to assess food waste awareness and strategies for its reduction among households in Otukpo Local Government. Five research questions were raised and three hypotheses were tested to provide guidance for the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design using a population of 3169 households from 3 wards in Otukpo Local Government in Benue State. Stratified and simple random techniques were used to select 159 respondents which represent 5% of the total population. The instrument used for data collection for this study is Questionnaire tagged Food waste awareness and strategies for reduction questionnaire (FWASRQ) with reliability coefficient of 0.831. The null hypothesis formulated in the study were tested using ANOVA and PPMC. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents were educated women, aged 26_35 with household size of 4_6. Majority of the respondents were aware of food waste and considered it a personal responsibility to reduce waste and also food waste as a problem in their household. Inadequate storage facilities were identified as a major contributor to household food waste, especially among perishable food items like fruits, vegetables and tomatoes. Households employed various food waste reduction strategies such as reusing leftovers, proper food storage and buying only needed food stuffs, though composting was less common. Gender and educational level were found to significantly influence the level of food waste awareness among respondents. There was a significant positive correlation between food waste awareness and household food waste reduction practices. A significant negative relationship was observed between the adequacy of storage facilities and the level of food waste, indicating that improved storage reduces waste. The study concluded that while individual attitudes and behaviors form a strong foundation for food waste reduction, barriers such as financial constraints, lack of community programs and Infrastructure hinder consistent reduction practice. Addressing these barriers will require integrated interventions that combine educational campaigns in raising awareness of the consequences of food waste emphasizing on the economic, environmental and social cost of wasting food, investments in affordable storage facilities which can bridge the gap between household-level awareness and sustainable food waste management.