RurbanFoodWaste: Understanding the sustainability potential of food waste as livestock feed in Indian rurban contexts

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Amelie Bernzen; Professorin Dr. Eva Schlecht
• Subject Area: Animal Breeding, Animal Nutrition, Animal Husbandry ; Human Geography
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 548312187

By combining the perspectives of Economic Geography and Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, project B02 thrives for an in-depth understanding of spatial, temporal, quantitative, and qualitative dimensions and dynamics of flows of Food Waste and Food Loss (FWFL) within rurban food systems of Bengaluru, India. Based on insights gained in the DFG-funded Research Unit FOR2432, we argue that rurban spaces foster spatial proximity of diverse food system actors, thereby offering a high potential for the revalorisation of FWFL, which is actively and flexibly used as dairy cattle feed by rurban smallholder farmers. Starting from places of FWFL occurrence and transformation, such as street dumps and market squares, we will study the multiple and interlinked food system actors, such as food producers and processors, the retail sector, consumers, and regulatory institutions. This serves the qualitative as well as quantitative characterisation of sources and causes of FWFL, along with the spatial and formal or informal organisation and coordination of FWFL revalorisation within the rurban dairy sector. Moreover, the potential and limitations of FWFL feeding and its nutritional and economic value for smallholder cattle farms will be explored. We hypothesise that by facilitating the circularity of FLFW flows, rurban assemblages and multi-functionalities contribute to more sustainable resource use. Methodologically, our research involves a grid-based collection of various quantitative and qualitative data through observations and mapping, interviews with various types of farming households, firms, and other food system actors, and chemical analysis of FWFL samples. The expected results will provide critical insights into the social, environmental, and economic sustainability of rurban approaches towards FWFL revalorisation in circular food-feed systems.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 5903: Sustainable Rurbanity - Resources, Society, and Regulatory Systems
• International Connection: India
• Cooperation Partners: Professorin Dr. Soubadra Devy; Dr. Pradeep Kumar Malik; Dr. Anjumoni Mech; Sheetal Patil