Quantitative analysis of feeding kitchen food waste to domestic animals in rural and semi-urban areas from Sammanthurai Divisional Secretariat Division in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Purpose: Some literature on feeding kitchen food waste (KFW) to domestic animals is available. However, the quantification of such consumption by those animals is limited. This study attempts to investigate how various domestic animals contribute to disposing of the KFW by feeding in rural and semi-urban areas of the eastern province of Sri Lanka.

Method: Simple random sampling was used to select 75 households from the Sammanthurai DS division. The KFW was collected, segregated, and weighed from each of the households. The weight of KFW fed to domestic and stray animals was recorded before feeding. A semi-structured questionnaire was also used to collect the necessary data from the households selected.

Results: The study found that the KFW accounted for 49%. 25% of the households disposed of their KFW by feeding to the domestic animals and another 3% was consumed by stray animals. The village chickens consumed the highest KFW (59.5%) per day. Each village chicken, cow, other birds, dog, and cat consumed 47.8 g, 695 g, 43.3 g, 128 g, and 91.7 g of KFW per day, respectively, on average. By feeding the KFW to domestic animals, the reduction in greenhouse gas emission was estimated to be 871 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂-e) per day.

Conclusion: A quarter of the households fed their KFW to domestic animals they grow. The village chickens were the highest contributor to the disposal of KFW by consuming them. Feeding KFW to domestic animals reduces greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to rural food security through bioconversion.

Research highlights

• Domestic animals at household levels contribute significantly to the disposal of kitchen food waste by consumption.
• Village chickens are the main contributor of kitchen food waste consumption.
• Domestic animals convert kitchen food waste into egg, meat and milk through bioconversion.
• Consumption of kitchen food waste by domestic animals reduce greenhouse gam emissions
• Bioconversion of kitchen food waste contributes to rural food security