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Sustainable Food Value Chain for Rural Development: The Use of Smart Agriculture

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 12949

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Ching-Cheng Chang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Economics, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Interests: agricultural development and policies; climate change; food and nutrition security; international trade; resource economics; food loss and waste
Prof. Dr. Witsanu Attavanich

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand
Interests: agricultural development; climate change; food security; program and policy evaluation; environmental economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The agricultural and food value chain includes production, handling and storage, processing and packaging, distribution, and consumption. This encompasses agricultural inputs to deliver food products and services to consumers. Smart agriculture has been acknowledged as an important means of solving the sustainability and food security problems along the food value chain. This creates off-farm jobs and income and contributes to sustainable rural development. Hence, governments of many countries are adopting various policy measures to promote smart agriculture. However, the adoption of smart agriculture is still in its early stage, especially among smallholder farmers. In addition, the prevalence of smart agriculture may lead to structural changes such as capital-intensification of farming, digitalization and commercialization of collected data, redesign of supply chains and associated institutions, access to sufficient financial resources and technologies to invest, and income inequality among farm households.

This Special Issue seeks to bring together papers that enhance the further development of smart agriculture to improve and ensure sustainability performance of food value chain for rural development. Papers on challenges and countermeasures for promoting smart agriculture, policy measures, and case studies on smart agriculture for smallholder farmers and agribusiness along food value chain are very welcome.

Prof. Dr. Ching-Cheng Chang
Prof. Dr. Witsanu Attavanich
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • information and communication technology (ICT)
  • smart agriculture
  • climate smart agriculture
  • digital transformation
  • sustainable food value chain
  • cold chain
  • rural development
  • agricultural development
  • reducing food loss and waste
  • food security
  • food safety
  • green finance

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 595 KiB  
Article
Contribution of Active Controlled Atmosphere (CA) Technology to the Value-Chain of Perishable Fruits and to Rural Development: Case of Atemoya in Taiwan
by Chun-Ta Wu, Wen-Hung Huang, Kenneth Bicol Dy, Ching-Cheng Chang and Shih-Hsun Hsu
Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 16013; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142316013 - 30 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1330
Abstract
Atemoya is an important tropical fruit export for Taiwan, mainly produced in Taitung, a rural area of South-Eastern Taiwan. However, it was sold to virtually a single market—China—and when that market suddenly announced an import ban on the fruit in 2021, the rural [...] Read more.
Atemoya is an important tropical fruit export for Taiwan, mainly produced in Taitung, a rural area of South-Eastern Taiwan. However, it was sold to virtually a single market—China—and when that market suddenly announced an import ban on the fruit in 2021, the rural farmers and the local economy were adversely affected. They had to quickly explore new overseas markets. Unfortunately, its short postharvest life makes it infeasible for long-distance transport. This study measured the impacts of the ban on the local economy using an input-output (IO) analysis. It also tested the technical feasibility of using a controlled atmosphere (CA) preservation technology, which was necessary for long-distance exports. The benefits of this strategy for the rural economy were also assessed using IO techniques. Results reveal that the atemoya value chain accounted for 2.12% of the production value, 2.75% of the value-added, and 3.62% of the employment in Taitung. Furthermore, the CA technology successfully doubled its postharvest life; thereby allowing exports to countries as far as Canada, and easing the impacts of the earlier ban. This development, together with facilitating domestic sales, boosted the local economy’s output value by NTD 491 million and its value-added by NTD 237 million. In addition, it can also increase rural employment by 2235 people. Using a smart agriculture technology in this case protected a perishable fruit industry that has a thin domestic market, from the risk of relying only on a single export destination. Consequently, this has supported the sustainability of rural communities and helped them to remain resilient. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Food Value Chain for Rural Development: The Use of Smart Agriculture)
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18 pages, 926 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Development of Cassava Value Chain through the Promotion of Locally Sourced Chips
by Kanokwan Chancharoenchai and Wuthiya Saraithong
Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14521; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114521 - 4 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2753
Abstract
The benefits of using homegrown inputs in the production of processed agricultural products have been recognized, for example, in protecting the environment and generating local income. In Thailand, local fresh cassava can replace imported potatoes in the production of chips. However, chips made [...] Read more.
The benefits of using homegrown inputs in the production of processed agricultural products have been recognized, for example, in protecting the environment and generating local income. In Thailand, local fresh cassava can replace imported potatoes in the production of chips. However, chips made from local cassava are not widely available on the market. This market access difficulty could be because of insufficient information about consumers’ preferences. This study thus aims to address the factors determining people’s consumption decisions on locally sourced snacks in the case of chips made from Thai cassava. These factors include, for example, price, gender, generation, education, occupation, purchasing frequency, product attributes, nutrition, food safety, and an understanding of cassava chips. The questionnaire used was developed to elicit data related to these factors. The statistical analysis is undertaken by the probit model and marginal effect. The results of three estimated models with 19 independent variables show that the effects of generation and occupation significantly indicate the probability of preferring cassava chips. Having a higher level of education and coming from the northeastern part of the country seem to determine consumers’ preference for local cassava content. Moreover, a better understanding of the related issues implies a higher chance of favoring chips from the local cassava. Those findings would provide useful information for entrepreneurs and government agencies in promoting locally sourced chips, and further develop the higher value of the cassava supply chain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Food Value Chain for Rural Development: The Use of Smart Agriculture)
29 pages, 2539 KiB  
Article
Impacts of COVID-19 on Sustainable Agriculture Value Chain Development in Thailand and ASEAN
by Roengchai Tansuchat, Suparak Suriyankietkaew, Phallapa Petison, Khanyapuss Punjaisri and Suthep Nimsai
Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 12985; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142012985 - 11 Oct 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4126
Abstract
The unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have put human and food security at risk. Currently, the literature on its impacts and implications on the agricultural sector towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) is limited. This study aims to expand the [...] Read more.
The unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have put human and food security at risk. Currently, the literature on its impacts and implications on the agricultural sector towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) is limited. This study aims to expand the existing knowledge by assessing COVID-19 impacts on sustainable agriculture value chain development in a major global hub of food supplies, Southeast Asia, particularly in the context of regional cooperation for the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN). This study employs an empirical qualitative research design to collect primary data from 31 in-depth key-informant interviews with multilateral stakeholders. We also reviewed the latest literature for the secondary data to advance our limited knowledge in this realm. Our study provides a macro-analytical outlook of COVID-19 impacts on the agricultural sector for sustainable development in Thailand and ASEAN, using a SWOT analysis and sustainability framework (i.e., socio-economic and environmental dimensions) with SDGs mapping. Our findings address critical sustainability issues about agriculture and food value chains for food security and post-COVID-19 recovery. Our study also suggests various opportunities and policy recommendations for transformative regional sustainability strategies for sustainable agriculture to achieve the UN SDGs and a sustainable future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Food Value Chain for Rural Development: The Use of Smart Agriculture)
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13 pages, 2045 KiB  
Article
Shared Logistic Service for Resilient Agri-Food System: Study of E-Commerce for Local and B2B Markets in Japan
by Kaiyuan Lin, Hiroe Ishihara, Chialin Tsai, Shihhan Hung and Masaru Mizoguchi
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1858; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031858 - 6 Feb 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3668
Abstract
Escalating intensification and homogenization occurring throughout the supply chain poses serious challenges to the global food supply. Several approaches have been developed to shift the food systems to a more resilient path; however, the high unit costs of shipping impede its development. This [...] Read more.
Escalating intensification and homogenization occurring throughout the supply chain poses serious challenges to the global food supply. Several approaches have been developed to shift the food systems to a more resilient path; however, the high unit costs of shipping impede its development. This paper proposes a shared logistic service supported by E-commerce as a solution to this problem. It analyzes the shared logistic system developed by Vegibus Ins. in Japan which has unique features, such as fixed routes. It argues that the logistic service has the ability to connect different scales while supporting flexible transactions leading to the construction of a resilient agri-food system. At the same time, the paper points out the need for subsidies from the governments to facilitate this kind of shared logistic service at the initial stage as one limitation to this approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Food Value Chain for Rural Development: The Use of Smart Agriculture)
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