Special Issue "Sustainability in Agribusiness Food Chains"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Peter J. Batt
E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, 6009 Perth, Australia
Interests: sustainability; food systems; value chains
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Food systems have the potential to nurture human health and support environmental sustainability, but regrettably, our current systems of food production threaten both (Lancet Commission, 2019). Today, agriculture is responsible for 20–30 percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions; is the leading cause of deforestation, land use change, and biodiversity loss; accounts for 70 percent of all water consumed; and is a major source of water pollution (Fischer and Garnett, 2016). 

With the majority of mankind now residing in urban environments (World Bank/FAO, 2017), increasing rates of urbanization 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 (RUAF, 2016). With the demand for food generally exceeding the capacity of the adjacent agricultural region, cities are largely dependent on external food sources. However, while globalization has increased the diversity and range of food available to consumers, food chains have become longer and with that, cities have become more susceptible to climate-induced food shortages, food price hikes, breakdowns in logistics, and failures in food safety management systems (IPES, 2017). 

Collectively, these issues have led 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 (World Bank/FAO, 2017). While a more systematic consideration of urban food systems will naturally focus attention on the downstream portions of food value chains, helping to enhance their productivity and competitiveness, to improve both the efficiency and sustainability of urban food systems, significantly greater investments in marketing and distribution systems, food quality and safety, transport and logistics, and improved food waste management must occur in parallel.

Every aspect of the food system influences the availability and accessibility of diverse, nutritious foods, and, thus, the ability of consumers to choose healthy diets (FAO, 2014). However, the linkages from the food system to nutritional outcomes are often indirect, mediated through incomes, prices, knowledge, and cultural factors. Furthermore, if the food system is to be both efficient and sustainable, the many actors participating in the many activities to bring food from the paddock to plate require infrastructure, facilities, services, and both formal and informal regulations to govern their business decisions. Because of the complexity of the system, the number of actors, and the relationships between actors, where each actor influences and in turn is influenced by other actors, a holistic systems-based approach is required. 

The primary driving force in any food market is the consumer (Gehlhar and Regmi, 2005). Income growth, lifestyle changes brought about by urbanization, and the changing structure of the family are resulting in significant dietary changes worldwide. With an increase in consumer purchasing power and the increasing opportunity cost of time to prepare food, the demand for high-value ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food products is expanding. In parallel, the consumption of coarse grains, roots, and tubers are decreasing with a commensurate increase in the consumption of higher-value food products including meat, dairy products, fats and oils, and in most markets, fresh fruit and vegetables (Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, 2016). However, growth in the consumption of more convenient, highly processed food is of concern, for the increasing consumption of sugar, saturated fat and salt is known to contribute to health problems like obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and other diet-related non-communicable diseases (Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 2016). Addressing obesity and other non-communicable food-related diseases is an urgent and immediate issue (Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, 2016), because, today, six of the top eleven diseases affecting mankind are diet-related (IFPRI, 2017). 

To understand food systems and their impact on society and the environment, we must embrace the concept of sustainable food value chains. FAO (2014) considers a sustainable food value chain as encompassing all the farms and agribusiness firms (which includes input suppliers, collector agents and traders, wholesalers and food processors, retailers and service support industries, public officials, civil society organizations, researchers and development practitioners) and their successive coordinated value-adding activities that produce raw agricultural materials and, where applicable, 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 permanently deplete natural resources. 

For this Special Issue of Sustainability, we welcome original contributions that demonstrate how the various stakeholders in food value chains have collectively addressed any of the following issues:

  • Sustainable food marketing
  • Adoption of innovative products/processes to enhance sustainability at any stage of the food chain
  • Alternative business models for linking farmers to markets
  • Facilitating the adoption of safe, sustainable quality management systems
  • Green purchasing
  • Minimizing food waste
  • Value chain governance, power, and trust
  • Minimizing risk and uncertainty
  • Promoting local food
  • Improving dietary and nutritional outcomes  

References:

Chicago Council on Global Affairs. 2016. Growing food for growing cities: transforming food systems in an urbanizing world.

FAO. 2014. Developing sustainable food value chains – Guiding principles. Rome.

Fischer, C.G. and Garnett, T. 2016. Plates, pyramids and planets: developments in national healthy and sustainable dietary guidelines: a state of play assessment. FAO/Food Climate Research Network.

Gehlhar, M. and Regmi, A. 2005. Factors shaping global food markets. In Regmi, A and Gehlhar, M (ed). New Directions in Global Food Markets. USDA.

Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition. 2016. Food systems and diets: Facing the challenges of the 21st century. London, UK

International Food Policy Research Institute. 2017. Global Food Policy Report. Washington DC.

IPES. 2017. What makes urban food policy happen? Insights from five case studies.  International

Lancet Commission. 2019. Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems.

RUAF Foundation. 2016. The role of private sector in city region food systems. Analysis report.

World Bank/FAO. 2017. Food systems for an urbanizing world. Knowledge Product. 

Dr. Peter J Batt
Guest Editor

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 papers will be 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 1900 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

  • sustainable food systems/chains
  • food waste
  • good agricultural practice
  • alternative business models
  • food marketing; quality management systems

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
An Exploratory Study of the Sustainable Practices Used at Each Level of the Bordeaux Wine Value Chain
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9760; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179760 (registering DOI) - 30 Aug 2021
Viewed by 277
Abstract
This paper explores environmental and socially sustainable practices among different actors in the Bordeaux wine value chain (WVC). The main research question is to identify the extent to which the different actors in the wine value chain are aligned in terms of practices [...] Read more.
This paper explores environmental and socially sustainable practices among different actors in the Bordeaux wine value chain (WVC). The main research question is to identify the extent to which the different actors in the wine value chain are aligned in terms of practices and beliefs concerning the importance and implementation of sustainable practices. While each actor in the Bordeaux WVC performs different sustainable practices depending on the activities that they undertake, some share common practices and exert some upstream pressure on the value chain as they seek to support sustainable practices at the wine grape grower and wine producer level. Environmentally sustainable practices are more developed than socially sustainable practices and were more widely adopted by most of the WVC actors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Agribusiness Food Chains)
Article
Integrated Strategies for Household Food Waste Reduction in Bangkok
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7651; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147651 - 08 Jul 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 476
Abstract
Urban food waste issues in developing economies have recently attracted the attention of policymakers, practitioners, and academics in the course of implementing the Paris Agreement and the SDGs. In our case study city of Bangkok, Thailand, household food waste generation doubled from 2003 [...] Read more.
Urban food waste issues in developing economies have recently attracted the attention of policymakers, practitioners, and academics in the course of implementing the Paris Agreement and the SDGs. In our case study city of Bangkok, Thailand, household food waste generation doubled from 2003 to 2018, with a similar increase in per capita amounts. Using an extensive literature review, statistical models, and a questionnaire survey, the authors clarified factors influencing food waste generation and separation before disposal, and reuse/recycling activity in urban households. Results showed that pre-purchase checks can not only prevent food waste but can also increase the reuse/recycling of food waste. Citizens with higher levels of education and those showing more concern about social issues and global warming are more likely to separate food waste before disposal and to participate in reuse/recycling activities. Finally, this paper proposes a seven-stage action-based model of integrated strategies for improving household food and food waste management to prevent/reduce food waste generation as well as remedy existing policy gaps in Bangkok. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Agribusiness Food Chains)
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Article
Facilitating Aligned Co-Decisions for More Sustainable Food Value Chains
Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6551; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126551 - 08 Jun 2021
Viewed by 635
Abstract
The transition of existing food value chains towards greater sustainability is a societal imperative and a potential competitive factor. To succeed, some actors in the chains define new practices to establish common sustainability goals. To date, there is little evidence that the visions [...] Read more.
The transition of existing food value chains towards greater sustainability is a societal imperative and a potential competitive factor. To succeed, some actors in the chains define new practices to establish common sustainability goals. To date, there is little evidence that the visions and values of the various actors in the chains have been leading to common solutions. This work explores the impact of collaboration on the value chain actors’ ability to jointly decide strategies for redesigning their activities. It reports on an empirical approach, which elicits the values and priorities of different stakeholders. The case takes place in the context of a value chain of the production/processing/sale of pork products. This value chain involves two French production-processing and redistribution cooperatives. Stakeholders were questioned about their prioritization of sustainability issues and these weights were applied to evaluate 12 animal feed solutions that vary in terms of the composition and geographical origin of rations, and the means and locations of their production. The results show that despite several years of cooperation, the objectives of the upstream and downstream actors remain different. The objectives of the upstream actors are driven by the economic difficulties of production and those of the downstream actors by the multiplicity of consumer demands and cost control objectives. In a reversal of the current practice marked by the economic difficulties of the actors upstream of the chain, an integrated culture could be led by bottom-up approaches to create a shared vision. Public policy would be then essential in regulating the sharing of value among actors; and in promoting chain models that help the required investments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Agribusiness Food Chains)
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