Analysis of Socio-demographic Factors Influencing Households Participation in Sustainable Food Waste-management in Malaysia

Abstract

Most local authorities in Malaysia spent as much as 60-70 percent of their annual budget to dispose food waste together with other municipal solid wastes to landfills. It is time for Malaysians to start reducing food waste through sustainable method, as it is becoming an uphill task to manage food wastes generated in Malaysia. When households reduce the amount of food waste generated in a sustainable way, it could help reduce cost, and other related bills for households, and as well in running their other daily activities. The main objective of this study is to assess how sociodemographic factors of households in Selangor and Terengganu influence their behaviour towards participation in sustainable food wastes management program. The study applied purposive nonrandom sampling consisting of 333 respondents, 257 were from Selangor and 76 from Terengganu. Primary data was collected through structured questionnaire. Descriptive and logistics regression model analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings have shown 48.7 percent of Terengganu respondents spent not more than RM100 on food per week, while Selangor had 41.2 percent within the same period who spent such amount. 35.4 percent of Selangor respondents spent between RM101-200 compared to Terengganu which spent same amount at 30.3 percent within the same periods. The survey shows 43.2 percent of Selangor households disposed 1-3kg food wastes, while Terengganu on the other hand had 51.3 percent who disposed same quantities of food wastes per week. Respondents with higher education, those on government jobs, small family size and ethnicity have significant impacts on the respondents' behaviour towards participation in sustainable food waste management program. Note: US$1=RM4.09