Search Results (50)

This study examines the emotional, communicative, and relational work through which employees and managers sustain service in multicultural restaurant settings. It uses intercultural service labour as an integrative analytical lens to explain how service actors manage different expectations regarding language, hierarchy, tone, face, food knowledge, and appropriate interaction. The study adopted a qualitative multi-site design based on 27 semi-structured interviews with owners and managers, employees, and customers in Indian restaurants in Bangkok, Pattaya, and Si Racha, Thailand. Data were analysed using a hybrid deductive–inductive thematic approach. Five interconnected dimensions emerged: reading tone, silence, and face; mediating at service boundaries; making unfamiliar cuisine serviceable; learning through mistakes and adjustment; and calibrating service to different expectations. Participants’ accounts showed that sustaining service involved not only technical competence but also the capacity to interpret ambiguous cues, protect face, clarify incomplete understanding, reduce customer uncertainty, and adjust communication through experience. This labour was distributed across restaurant roles and often remained informal and weakly recognised. The study connects emotional labour, intercultural competence, and brokerage within a work-process perspective. It reframes intercultural competence as a situated accomplishment and shows how smooth multicultural service depends on informal coordination that organisations frequently rely on but rarely recognise. Full article

Malaysia’s upstream poultry supply chain, comprising broiler farms, hatcheries, and breeder operations, faces persistent barriers to circular economy (CE) adoption despite growing national policy support. Existing literature has focused predominantly on quantitative assessments of CE performance, leaving a critical gap in contextual, institutional-level understanding of why CE practices remain selectively and unevenly implemented. This paper reports findings from an exploratory qualitative study involving nine semi-structured in-depth interviews with informants drawn primarily from institutional and regulatory stakeholder categories: regulatory agencies (Department of Veterinary Services Malaysia, DVS), industry associations (Federation of Livestock Farmers’ Associations of Malaysia, FLFAM), marketing and distribution agencies (Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority, FAMA), research institutions (Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, MARDI), one private sector operator, and academic informants. Thematic analysis reveals five interconnected themes that collectively explain CE implementation gaps as seen from this institutional vantage point: (1) fragmented internal coordination as the primary operational barrier, (2) policy-practice misalignment between regulatory intent and operational realities, (3) the awareness-to-action deficit in CE conceptualisation, (4) differentiated capability constraints across enterprise scales (reported mainly through an industry-association intermediary rather than smallholders directly), and (5) the digital-circular complementarity gap raised by a minority of informants (4 of 9). The study makes three contributions: it generates an institutional-level, qualitative account of CE barriers and enablers for Malaysia’s upstream poultry sector from an institutional perspective; it introduces the concept of capability-sensitive CE governance, situated relative to related constructs such as the dynamic capabilities view, absorptive capacity, and the Technology–Organisation–Environment (TOE) framework, as a novel theoretical construct grounded in empirical evidence; and it proposes a preliminary Circular Economy Implementation Readiness Model (CEIRM), offered as a basis for future validation rather than a tested framework, that outlines a staged, practical pathway for CE adoption at the enterprise level. Findings have exploratory implications for policymakers, agri-food managers, and researchers engaged in circular transitions in developing-economy food systems. Full article

Background: Climate change is increasingly recognised not only as an environmental emergency but also as a structural determinant of health and health-system performance. Its clinical consequences will not be distributed evenly: high-income countries face rising heat mortality, infrastructure fragility, ageing-related vulnerability, and the need to decarbonise technologically intensive care; middle- and low-income countries face heterogeneous but often more compressed combinations of heat, infectious disease, food insecurity, water stress, displacement, conflict-related fragility, and limited fiscal capacity. Objective: This structured narrative review proposes a comparative framework for understanding how climate change will transform health care across high-, middle-, and low-income settings and identifies adaptation priorities that are resilient, equitable, and low-carbon. Methods: We synthesised major climate-health assessments, peer-reviewed epidemiological studies, modelling papers, systematic and scoping reviews, and health-system decarbonisation literature identified through targeted searches and reference chaining. Five climate-health pathways, specified a priori from established direct, indirect, and socially mediated pathway frameworks, were used to organise the review. Findings: Climate change will reshape health care through five interacting pathways: direct thermal injury and extreme-weather mortality; altered infectious disease ecology; food, water, and nutritional insecurity; mental, maternal-child, and occupational impacts; and damage to the infrastructure, workforce, supply chains, finances, and emissions profile of health systems. In high-income countries, climate stress exposes the limits of hospital-centred, carbon-intensive, just-in-time care. In middle-income countries, expanding coverage and technology coexist with uneven insurance, large informal workforces, and rapidly growing emissions. In low-income and fragile settings, the same hazards interact with undernutrition, weak surveillance, under-resourced primary care, and constrained finance to produce larger marginal health losses. Conclusions: The central contribution is the concept of the climate-health divide: the unequal conversion of shared climate hazards into clinical demand, service disruption, financial stress, and emissions-intensive responses. Climate resilience and healthcare decarbonisation should therefore be designed together rather than treated as separate agendas. Full article

The global shift toward sustainable food packaging has renewed interest in bio- and plant-derived materials as alternatives to conventional plastics. Leaf-based packaging, a long-standing practice in many regions, represents a low-technology and culturally embedded option that is gaining attention, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Despite this interest, evidence on its functional suitability, safety, regulatory alignment, and real-world adoption remains scattered and uneven. This systematic review synthesises current knowledge on leaf-based food packaging to determine where, how, and under what conditions it may be viable. Following PRISMA-ScR 2020 guidelines, peer-reviewed studies published between 1997 and 2025 were identified from major scientific databases and assessed using study-type-appropriate quality appraisal tools. Evidence was organised through a thematic framework addressing consumer awareness and willingness to pay, practical adoption and cultural patterns, economic trade-offs, and functional co-benefits alongside microbial and toxicological risks within existing regulatory and end-of-life systems. Comparative analysis considered differences between low- and middle-income and high-income contexts. The findings show that leaf-based packaging is most suitable for short shelf-life and low-risk foods, especially within traditional food service settings. Adoption is encouraged by cultural familiarity and environmental perceptions but limited by performance variability, hygiene concerns, compliance requirements, and infrastructure constraints. Scalability remains restricted by cost-effectiveness and compatibility with formal packaging and waste systems. Leaf-based materials should therefore be viewed as a context-specific sustainability option rather than a universal replacement for plastics, requiring targeted and risk-informed integration into appropriate food systems. Full article

Chile’s livestock industry faces growing demands for emissions reduction, animal welfare, and value creation, while continuing to play a key role in rural food security and pasture-based production systems. In light of Chile’s varied agroclimatic conditions, a diminishing national herd, and shifting market signals, such as alternative proteins and distinctive meat products, this narrative review explores four complementary transition pathways: sustainable intensification, organic and agroecological systems, heritage livestock, and regenerative practices. We map the structural challenges, including grazing dairy and beef herds, fragmented producer organization, and the absence of unified, farm-scale greenhouse-gas measurements. We assess the management strategies that have the strongest support; viz., efficiency gains at the animal/herd level, adaptive grazing and silvopastoral designs, nutrient cycling via manure management and local by-products, and welfare frameworks that are aligned with national law and World Organisation for Animal Health guidance. Heritage systems (e.g., Chilota sheep breed in the Chiloé archipelago) provide resilience, cultural identity, and low-input baselines for stepwise transitions. Regenerative procedures can improve soil function and drought buffering but require context-specific designs and credible outcome-based verification to avoid greenwashing. Key enabling policies include coordinated certification and labeling covering animal welfare and origin. Additional elements are cooperative and territorial governance, targeted R&D and extension services for smallholders, and a transparent, standardized greenhouse-gas measurement framework linking farm-level actions to national inventories. Chile’s pathway is not a single model but a practical combination shaped by regional conditions that can deliver long-term economic sustainability, ecosystem services, and nutrition. Full article

Background: Preventing nutritional decline during hospitalisation is imperative in reducing the development of complications such as malnutrition and pressure injuries. However, existing malnutrition screening and assessment tools employ a reactive rather than proactive approach, using predictors to identify inpatients who are already malnourished instead of those at risk of developing hospital-acquired malnutrition. Therefore, this review aimed to identify key contextual and individual factors contributing to nutritional deterioration and their interrelatedness, and to inform strategies for preventing hospital-acquired malnutrition. Methods: A scoping review of five databases (Medline, CINAHL, Embase, All EBM Reviews and PsycINFO) up to June 2024 was conducted to include English-language studies that reported statistically significant risk factors for changes in nutritional status during hospitalisation. A directed acyclic graphing method was used to visualise the interlinkage between contextual and individual risk factors identified. PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews was followed in reporting. Results: Of 8215 retrieved abstracts, 51 studies were included. Four contextual (ward type; food service satisfaction; medical-related mealtime interruption; nutrition care collaboration) and four individual factors (nutritional status prior admission; hospital length of stay; multimorbidity; disease acuity) were found to significantly predict nutritional decline during hospitalisation and were closely interrelated. Conclusions: More contextual risk factors are modifiable, suggesting a need for organisational strategies to optimise collaborative nutrition care and improve patient satisfaction with hospital food services to promote early nutritional intervention, particularly within the first three days of admission and for inpatients with multimorbidity, high disease acuity, or pre-existing malnourishment. Full article

This paper examines the evolving role of social economy organisations (SEOs) in advancing sustainability and contributing to the green transition. While traditionally focused on social inclusion and local development, SEOs are increasingly integrating environmental objectives into their operations, particularly through circular economy (CE) practices, decarbonisation strategies, and short food supply chains (SFSCs). Based on qualitative research and the analysis of 16 good practices from five European countries, the study demonstrates how SEOs create blended social and environmental value by combining economic, social, and ecological goals. The findings show that SEOs foster environmental sustainability by reducing resource consumption and carbon emissions, creating green jobs, strengthening local cooperation, and raising environmental awareness within communities. Importantly, SEOs emerge not only as service providers but also as innovators and agents of change in local ecosystems. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to enhance the role of SEOs in the green transition and identifies directions for future research, particularly regarding the measurement of their long-term environmental impact and the conditions enabling effective collaboration with public and private sector actors. Full article

The rubber industry is facing major socio-economic and environmental constraints. Rubber-based agroforestry systems represent a more sustainable solution through the diversification of income and the provision of greater ecosystem services than monoculture plantations. Participative approaches are known for their ability to co-construct solutions with stakeholders and to promote a positive impact on smallholders. This study therefore implemented a participatory research process with stakeholders in the natural rubber sector for the purpose of improving inclusion, relevance and impact. Facilitation training sessions were first organised with academic actors to prepare participatory workshops. A working group of stakeholder representatives was set up and participated in these workshops to share a common representation of the value chain and to identify problems and solutions for the sector in Indonesia. By fostering collective intelligence and systems thinking, the process is aimed at enabling the development of adaptive technical solutions and building capacity across the sector for future government replanting programmes. The resulting adaptive technical packages were then detailed and objectified by the academic consortium and are part of a participatory plant breeding approach adapted to the natural rubber industry. On-station and on-farm experimental plans have been set up to facilitate the drafting of projects for setting up field trials based on these outcomes. Research played a dual role as both knowledge provider and facilitator, guiding a co-learning process rooted in social inclusion, equity and ecological resilience. The initiative highlighted the potential of rubber cultivation to contribute to climate change mitigation and food sovereignty, provided that it can adapt through sustainable practices like agroforestry. Continued political and financial support is essential to sustain and scale these innovations. Full article

Technology has become crucial for businesses of all scales, enhancing operational efficiency, customer experience, and overall performance. While many formal businesses have embraced technology, small and informal businesses, particularly in rural areas, often struggle with adoption due to resource constraints. This study examines the impact of technological capability (TC) on the performance of informal food service operators (IFO) in southwestern Nigeria. This study employed a quantitative approach whereby a closed-ended questionnaire was administered to 180 IFOs across different LGAs in Oyo State to elicit information about the effect of their activities on performance indicators. The response rate was 93.8%. Data was analyzed using a binary logistic regression model. Findings revealed that the innovation capability (β—1.657; p—0.003*) and production capability (β—3.276; p—0.009*) of the IFOs significantly influenced their sales turnover and profit level is influenced by innovation capability (β—1.657; p—0.013*), investment capability (β—2.013; p—0.004*) and linkage capability (β—2.716; p—0.003*) within the study area. The study recommends that there should be strong linkages between the operators and technology-providing organisations to enhance their innovation capability. Full article

Produce prescription programs can benefit both individuals and health systems; however, best practices for integrating such programs into the Australian health system are yet unknown. This study explored stakeholders’ perspectives on the acceptability, potential design and integration of produce prescription programs for adults with type 2 diabetes in Australia. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 22 participants for an online workshop, representing six stakeholder groups (government, healthcare service, clinician, food retailer, consumer, non-government organisation). Participant responses were gathered through workshop discussions and a virtual collaboration tool (Mural). The workshop was video-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and thematic analysis was conducted using a deductive–inductive approach. Stakeholders recognised produce prescription as an acceptable intervention; however, they identified challenges to implementation related to contextuality, accessibility, and sustainability. Stakeholders were vocal about the approach (e.g., community-led) and infrastructure (e.g., screening tools) needed to support program design and implementation but expressed diverse views about potential funding models, indicating a need for further investigation. Aligning evaluation outcomes with existing measures in local, State and Federal initiatives was recommended, and entry points for integration were identified within and outside of the Australian health sector. Our findings provide clear considerations for future produce prescription interventions for people with type 2 diabetes. Full article

The content of this paper presents the research results of a three-year research project in which a multi-criteria evaluation model (according to the DEX methodology) was developed for the evaluation of three different food sectors (represented by a cattle breeding chain, a pig farming chain, and a milk production chain) with added value in Slovenia. Indicators for the assessment of the economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable development of food chains were taken into account. The data for the analysis, such as prices and costs of food, wage levels by sector, food miles and others, were obtained from various public services between 2020 and 2023. The final qualitative assessment of the food sectors was uniform (“average”), while the longest analysis of the results using the plus-minus-1 analysis method showed the reasons for such an assessment in individual sectors (such as the ratio between the price of agricultural products and the price of agricultural inputs is poor, the ratio between average gross salary in the individual food sector and gross salary in the agricultural sector is poor, etc.). In addition to the results already mentioned, recommendations or suggestions for building a sustainable food chain were made using the results of the modelling. The research results contributed to a better understanding of the importance of stable relationships between different groups of indicators and later showed their importance for improving the functioning of agri-food chains. The results of the research will help various stakeholders (such as the agricultural advisory service, decision-makers at the level of agricultural policy, researchers in further analyses, and especially the international professional public interested in various case studies from EU countries) to further analyse and plan for the organisation of the agricultural sector. Full article

Increases in demand for food, product development, and agribusiness growth provide new opportunities for smallholder farmers in the developing world. Yet, the smallholder farming sector is still confronted by numerous constraints, including low quality and lower levels of produce. Agricultural cooperatives and other farmer organisations have been identified as crucial vehicles to link smallholder farmers with the evolving food systems. However, little is known about their contribution to enhancing their members’ participation in sustainable agri-food chains. This paper aims to explore the effectiveness of agricultural cooperatives in empowering smallholder farmers to participate in sustainable agri-food chains in Eastern Cape, South Africa. In achieving this, the study adopted a multi-stratified sampling procedure to select 119 cooperative members in the study area. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and a binary regression model. Our findings revealed that the majority (70%) of cooperatives were participating in crop production. Most (75%) of the cooperative members were old, with a mean average of 52 years. Additionally, the majority (93%) of members reported that agricultural cooperatives contributed positively to their livelihoods. The results of the probit model established that quality, quantity, level of education, and access to information influenced the level of participation in storage, processing, and distribution levels at different levels of significance. Although the findings of this research reported a positive contribution of cooperatives to their members, the study identifies a greater need for cooperatives to be inclusive of young people and improve government support. Also, the study recommends a blended financing model that will cater to smallholder farmers who do not have collateral. Finally, the study recommends that the current extension and advisory services be tailored to cater to the training needs of smallholder farmers. Full article

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is Africa’s second most-grown crop and is widely used as the staple food after maize. The demand for potato production is increasing and growth in the area under production is estimated at 1.25% a year. Potato has great potential when it comes to food security and farm returns for many smallholder farmers. However, potato productivity is relatively low due to many factors that contribute to the low yield (including drought, poor production practices, and limited access to high-quality seed) and inefficient use of resources. Potato farmers have no access to formal markets, which may reduce the profitability of their enterprises. Additionally, while many studies have been conducted on the resource aspect of vegetable crops, very little is known about the profit efficiency of potato producers in the country. At the same time, efforts to commercialize potato production have not delivered the expected outcomes. This study aimed to estimate the profitability of potatoes, evaluate farm-level efficiency, and identify the factors that influence the efficiency levels of potato farmers in the Eastern Cape Province who engage in irrigation farming. The study used multi-stage and snowball sampling to select 150 smallholder potato farmers from whom primary data were collected using close-ended questionnaires. The data were analyzed using descriptive, gross margin analysis and translog stochastic profit frontier (SPF) modelling. The study found potato production to be profitable by as much as ZAR 7027.11 per annum. It is shown that farm size under potato, seed, pesticides, and fertilisers contribute positively towards the improvement of efficiency while labour and hired tractors negatively affect efficiency. The average technical efficiency of potato production among irrigated smallholder farmers was 89%, indicating that potato farmers could increase output by 11% without increasing inputs. Potato farm size, years spent in school, access to extension services, family size, and non-farm income are socio-economic and institutional factors influencing the farmers’ technical efficiency. However, the farmer’s age, access to credit, and cold storage had a negative effect on their productivity. The study recommends that government and non-governmental organisations strengthen the existing extension service provided to smallholder farmers and make efforts to provide farmers with long-term training and education to increase their productivity. Full article

Mangroves stand out as one of the most diverse and biologically significant natural systems in the world. Playing critical roles in maintaining the health and productivity of coastal ecosystems, mangroves provide a range of services and functions, including habitat for local fauna and flora, food and other goods, carbon sequestration, and protection from natural disasters such as storm surges and coastal erosion. It is also evident that mangroves face several threats, which have already led to the gradual depletion of mangrove areas worldwide. Based on the analysis of current and related historical literature and data, this review summarises mangrove functions and the threats and challenges associated with mangrove management practices. Our findings suggest that coastal development, expanded aquaculture, deforestation, climate change, and other associated implications such as eutrophication, diseases, and pollution are the major factors posing threats to mangrove sustainability. We also highlight the various challenges, such as land use conflict, a lack of stringent regulatory actions, inadequate policy and government frameworks, and a lack of community awareness, that underlie ineffective mangrove management. The implementation of inclusive and coordinated approaches involving stakeholders from different backgrounds and interests, governmental and non-governmental organisations, and academia is essential for mangrove restoration and sustainable mangrove management by adapting mitigation strategies. Full article

Saudi Arabia (SA) is categorised as one of the nations with the highest food waste globally. However, this rate of food waste encompasses a high risk to the economy, society and environment. The government has prioritised food security and environmental sustainability in its Saudi Vision 2030; hence, the government has developed some initiatives for food waste reduction. However, these efforts have not achieved the desired outcomes, as there is no evidence that food waste was reduced after such initiatives. The current research reports the results of the first phase of a wider study on food waste management (FWM), which has undertaken a novel approach towards FWM in food service organisations in SA by integrating the perspectives of stakeholders: customers, managers and academics specialised in food management/service. The results of in-depth interviews with key stakeholders identified the main causes of food waste in food service organisations. The findings confirmed that causes of food waste are all associated with each other and linked to either the absence of strategic and legal frameworks, consumer behaviour or poor management of food chains in food service organisations. Solutions for effective FWM were discussed with key stakeholders. The research showed that there is a need for an integrated approach for FWM in each sector where food waste is apparent such as food service organisations. Hence, the Saudi Zero Food Waste Certification has been introduced as a novel approach for managing food waste in food service organisations. Full article