From a social initiative to an institutional framework: The Peruvian Food Bank (PFB) and the institutionalization of food recovery in Lima, Peru

Sammanfattning

Food insecurity is one of the main development challenges faced by the Peruvian population, withfood waste across the retail sector significantly contributing to its prevalence. In Lima, the Peruvian Food Bank (PFB) was created as an NGO to recover food safe for consumption beforebeing discarded, redistributing it to those in need. Recognizing its relevance, this thesis assessesthe role of the PFB in the institutionalization of food recovery in Lima from 2015 to 2025,determining the organization’s specific contributions to this process. Through a qualitative design,the evaluation was conducted through a case study to deeply analyze PFB’s activities, examiningtheir implications, scope, and influence across the legislative body and the Lima retail sector byconducting a Thematic Analysis (TA). From the Institutional Work Theory, findings determinedthat the PFB played a key role in the institutionalization by (1) introducing and setting the path forfood recovery (2) breaking the regulatory, normative, and cognitive foundations of food waste,and (3) to a lesser extent contributing to its maintenance, which relied predominantly in the mainsupermarket chains studied. The thesis demonstrated the role of NGOs beyond assistance, beingable to build new institutional frameworks to face development challenges.