Aligning Sustainable Food Value Chains to Meet Market Expectations

Dear Colleagues,

While considerable progress has been made in reducing hunger and poverty and improving food security and nutrition, global food security is precariously balanced due to mounting pressures on natural resources and climate change [1]. Food production is the largest cause of global environmental change [2]. In converting land to agricultural uses, deforestation has resulted in the destruction of habitats, the loss of species and a reduction in biodiversity. Furthermore, food production consumes around 70 percent of the world’s freshwater with the overuse and misuse of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers, resulting in the eutrophication of inland rivers, lakes and estuaries.

Regrettably, not only does agriculture and food production contribute directly to climate change, for an estimated 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are generated by agriculture, forestry and land use change [3], agriculture and food production is also impacted by the changing climate, with yields projected to decline with the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, rising sea levels and resource constraints.

Food is a critically important resource that cannot be wasted and yet an estimated one-third of the food produced for human consumption is never eaten [3]. Food loss and waste occurs along the entire food supply chain, from production and processing to transport and distribution, retail and consumption [4]. While most food loss and waste in lower-income countries occurs at production and post-harvest levels, in middle and high-income countries, the majority of the food loss and waste occurs during distribution and consumption.

For the first time in history, the majority of mankind now reside in an urban environment, with that figure expected to reach two thirds by 2050 [3, 5]. Increasing rates of urbanisation are putting more pressure on water and land resources; influencing what foods we eat, where and when we eat them; the way our food is grown, processed and delivered to consumers, and impacting on our health and nutrition [6].

With increasing urbanisation, food chains have become longer and changes in dietary patterns have further increased the impact of the global food system on planetary boundaries. Consolidation and aggregation among downstream market intermediaries has progressively isolated many of the world’s smallholder farmers, who collectively produce up to 80 percent of the food supply in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa [7]. Furthermore, with the increasing trade in food products, breakdowns in food safety are not only becoming more common, but the impacts much more significant across multiple continents. Similarly, the spread of transboundary pests and diseases, many of which have become resistant to antimicrobials, and evasive species continue to present new challenges to food producers.

Collectively, these issues are leading to a renewed focus on food systems, their sustainability and resilience, the potential to create viable employment and livelihoods, and the ability to provide access to affordable, safe and nutritious food [3].

FAO [8] define a sustainable food value chain as the full range of farms and firms and their successive value-adding activities that produce raw agricultural materials and transform them into food products that are sold to final consumers and disposed of after use in a manner that is profitable throughout, has broad based benefits for society and does not deplete natural resources.

Adopting a holistic, systems-based approach, the “full range of farms and firms” refers to both value chain actors who take direct ownership of the product and the many service providers including input suppliers, financiers, extension agents and transporters, whose behaviour and performance is strongly influenced by the business environment in which they are embedded.

Marketing has been described as a continuous process of discovering and translating consumer wants and needs into appropriate products and services. For a market-oriented firm, the key focus of marketing is the consumer, where the firm seeks on one hand to attract new customers by promising superior value and on the other to retain existing customers by delivering greater satisfaction. However, markets are dynamic. Not only is the firm impacted by the threat of new market entrants, substitute products, the bargaining power of both buyers and suppliers, and the strategies adopted by competitors [9], but consumer demand is also constantly changing in response to the environmental forces within which the firm is embedded. These macro-environmental forces can be categorised as demographic, economic, natural, technological, political and cultural [10].

For this Special Issue of Sustainability, we welcome both research papers and reviews that discuss:

• Consumer attitudes and behaviour towards sustainable food;
• Sustainable and/or ethical sourcing;
• Local food;
• Alternative routes to marketing, including direct marketing;
• Efforts to improve the efficiency of food transport and distribution;
• Minimising food waste;
• Food safety;
• Food fraud
• Environmentally friendly food packaging;
• Traceability;
• Facilitating the adoption of environmental management systems and third party quality assurance systems;
• E-commerce applications in the food industry;
• Engaging/linking smallholder farmers to market;
• Sustainable on-farm practices and technologies.

I look forward to receiving your contributions and, potentially, to the publication of a Special Issue.

References

1. FAO. The future of food and agriculture. Trends and challenges. Rome. 2017.
2. Lancet Commissions. Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food system. 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31788-4.
3. World Bank/FAO. Food systems for an urbanising world. Knowledge Product. 2017
4. FAO. The State of Food and Agriculture 2019. Rome. 2019.
5. International Food Policy Research Institute. Global Food Policy Report. Washington DC. 2017.
6. RUAF Foundation. 2016. The role of private sector in city region food systems. Analysis report. Toronto Food Policy Council. http://tfpc.to/about
7. FAO. Smallholders and family farmers. Rome. 2012.
8. FAO. Developing sustainable food value chains. Rome. 2014.
9. Porter, M.E. Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Free Press, NY. 1985.
10. Kotler, P., Chandler, P.C., Brown, L. and Adam, S. Marketing. Australia and New Zealand. Third Edition. Prentice Hall. 1994.

Prof. Dr. Peter J. Batt
Guest Editor

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• sustainable procurement
• local food
• direct marketing
• quality assurance
• food safety
• traceability
• consumer behaviour