scholarly journals Supermarket-Led Development and the Neglect of Traditional Food Value Chains: Reflections on Indonesia’s Agri-Food System Transformation

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Vetter ◽  
Marianne Nylandsted Larsen ◽  
Thilde Bech Bruun
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Food System ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Traditional Food ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Food Retail ◽  
Food Value

The rapid expansion of modern food retail encapsulated in the so-called ‘supermarket revolution’ is often portrayed as a pivotal driving force in the modernization of agri-food systems in the Global South. Based on fieldwork conducted on horticulture value chains in West Java and South Sulawesi, this paper explores this phenomenon and the concerted efforts that government and corporate actors undertake with regard to agri-food value chain interventions and market modernization in Indonesia. The paper argues that after more than 15 years of ‘supermarket revolution’ in Indonesia, traditional food retail appears not to be in complete demise, but rather adaptive and resilient to its modern competitors. The analysis of local manifestations of supermarket-led agricultural development suggests that traditional markets can offer certain advantages for farmers over supermarket-driven value chains. The paper further identifies and discusses two areas that have so far been neglected by research and policymaking and which warrant further investigation: (i) the simultaneous transformations in traditional food value chains and their relation to modern markets, and (ii) the social and environmental performances of modern vis-à-vis traditional food value chains.

scholarly journals Food Security and the Dynamics of Wheat and Maize Value Chains in Africa and Asia

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Grote ◽  
Anja Fasse ◽  
Trung Thanh Nguyen ◽  
Olaf Erenstein
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
World Population ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Maize Production ◽  
Long Run

There is an ongoing debate about how best to feed the growing world population in the long run and associated implications for research and development. Some call for a new Green Revolution to secure the supply of staple foods, whereas others emphasize the importance of diversifying and improving people's diets. We aim to contribute to this debate by reviewing the case of wheat and maize value chains and their contribution to food security in Africa and Asia. We first identify drivers transforming food systems. We then apply these to the cereal value chains and disentangle their effects on food security. We thereby add to the three strands in the literature around production, consumption, and food system transformation and point to different research needs and recommendations for the future. The review highlights: (1) Wheat and maize production will be increasingly impaired by ecological drivers such as land degradation, water scarcity and climate change. (2) There are promising innovations to increase and maintain productivity, but constraints in adopting these innovations have to be overcome (i.e., access to seeds, finance, and education/training). (3) The drivers affect all four dimensions of food security, but first and foremost they determine the availability and stability of maize and wheat. This indirectly also influences the economic and physical access of people to maize and wheat. (4) Research tends to focus on improving the productivity and sustainability of wheat and maize farming which is largely interlinked with the availability dimension of food security. (5) The stability and utilization dimension of food security merits continued yet increased support. First, to address climate change and implications for biotic and abiotic stresses. Second, to promote healthier diets and enable the equitable transformation of food systems.

scholarly journals Northern Food Systems in Transition: The Role of the Emerging Agri-Food Industry in the Northwest Territories (Canada) Food System

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret A. Lemay ◽  
Josalyn Radcliffe ◽  
David Bysouth ◽  
Andrew Spring
Keyword(s):  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Food System ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Food Value

This paper reports the findings of an ethnographic study that involved working with local organizations, food advocates, and communities to develop strategies for expanding the nascent Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada agri-food industry. The NWT represents a unique case study in that the fledging agri-food industry has been recognized for its promise in contributing to the core goals of the transitioning NWT food system. The study is guided by two research questions: (1) How is the promise of the emerging NWT agri-food industry framed within the context of the broader food system? (2) Given this framing of the NWT agri-food industry, how can it contribute to the sustainability of the NWT food system and to the goals of food security, poverty reduction, nutrition, and economic development? Grounded in a food systems approach, we used a correlative, evolutionary SWOT analysis to profile the nascent NWT agri-food industry within the context of the existing NWT food system. Through further thematic analysis, we identify and describe two dominant narratives (agri-food industry business case narrative and agri-food industry implications narrative) and key themes within the narratives based on an adapted food systems framework. The agri-food business case narrative highlights discourse articulating the business or commercial viability for a local agri-food value chain to function, evolve, and expand. The agri-food industry implications narrative envisions the ways in which the emerging NWT agri-food industry may interact within the existing NWT food system, highlighting potential environmental, social, cultural, and political implications of an expanding commercial-based agri-food value chain. Within the two narratives, certain subcomponents of the NWT agri-food system appear to be more prevalent, including climate, soil, and ecosystems, policy/regulations/governance, socio-cultural norms, knowledge, inputs, finance, production, and consumption. We make policy and practice recommendations for co-designing an agri-food industry that serves the multiple goals of the NWT food system. As an exploratory, descriptive-structural analysis the study provides a critical empirical basis for future in-depth, fully integrated synthesis of the complex social, cultural, economic, political, and ecological dynamics shaping Northern food systems in transition.

scholarly journals Value Chains and Diet Quality: A Review of Impact Pathways and Intervention Strategies

Agriculture ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley Ridoutt ◽  
Jessica R. Bogard ◽  
Kanar Dizyee ◽  
Lilly Lim-Camacho ◽  
Shalander Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Diet Quality ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Impact Pathways ◽  
Nutritious Food ◽  
Entry Points

Low and middle-income countries increasingly face a triple burden of malnutrition encompassing undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency, and excessive energy consumption contributing to overweight and obesity. Food systems are also becoming more complex, supported by investments in food processing and retailing. Traditional approaches addressing hunger, typically based on agricultural development, are deemed insufficient alone to address the problem and attention is now being directed to food value chains, although experience is currently limited. To assess the state of science and identify knowledge gaps, an integrative review of the broad topic of value chains and diet quality was undertaken, with particular focus on interventions and their related impact pathways. Interventions were classified according to their primary orientation: to increase the availability, accessibility, or desirability of nutritious food. We identified 24 separate interventions associated with 10 different impact pathways, demonstrating the numerous entry points and large potential for value chain interventions to influence diet quality. However, case study evidence regarding effectiveness remains scant. Most studies addressed individual nutrient-rich commodities that could address a nutritional deficiency in the community of interest. Rarely was overall diet quality assessed, and future studies could benefit from taking a wider perspective of dietary patterns and food substitutions. The value chain analytical approach was deemed valuable due to its consumer orientation that seeks to understand how food products are used and what motivates their choice. The systems perspective is also important as it considers the roles of actors involved in food production, distribution, marketing, and regulation. However, few studies directly engaged with the subject of the local food environment as the bridge connecting food production and food choice. The challenge is to combat the increasing prevalence of processed foods of low nutritional value through interventions that lead to nutritious food becoming more conveniently available, affordable, and desirable.

scholarly journals What do Farmers Think about Food Value Chains?: A Phenomenological Study of Farmers in Southern Ontario

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Korzun
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Satisfaction ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Direct Marketing ◽  
Local Food Systems ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Food Value

Many claim the industrial food system has complicated the supply chain, adding a large variety of actors, such as wholesalers and distributors that result in weaker local food systems. Direct marketing has often been promoted as the best alternative. Although direct marketing is a good option for some, many farmers find it cumbersome as it is time consuming and drains resources in return for profits that are not guaranteed. Food value chains (FVCs) provide farmers with a third option. FVCs are a potential response to the increasing demand for differentiated food including food that is sourced locally, food that provides fair compensation to farmers and promotes environmental and social improvements. FVCs have been steadily increasing in Southern Ontario. Online distribution channels, food box programs, online meal kits, small and alternative retails and mobile markets have sprouted to meet the demand of local food while handling high volumes of quality food and aiming to build local food systems. Although some research has been done to demonstrate the benefits of FVCs on consumer satisfaction and on farmers economically, little qualitative research examining the motivations, opportunities and challenges of farmers participating in FVCs have been recorded. Utilizing phenomenology, in-depth interviews with farmers will identify reasons for participating in FVCs, their perceptions of opportunities and challenges as well as their opinions about FVCs generating social and environmental benefits of developing strong local food systems.

scholarly journals Women’s empowerment and gender equality in agricultural value chains: evidence from four countries in Asia and Africa

Food Security ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes Quisumbing ◽  
Jessica Heckert ◽  
Simone Faas ◽  
Gayathri Ramani ◽  
Kalyani Raghunathan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Household Wealth ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Men And Women

AbstractWomen play important roles at different nodes of both agricultural and off-farm value chains, but in many countries their contributions are either underestimated or limited by prevailing societal norms or gender-specific barriers. We use primary data collected in Asia (Bangladesh, Philippines) and Africa (Benin, Malawi) to examine the relationships between women’s empowerment, gender equality, and participation in a variety of local agricultural value chains that comprise the food system. We find that the value chain and the specific node of engagement matter, as do other individual and household characteristics, but in different ways depending on country context. Entrepreneurship—often engaged in by wealthier households with greater ability to take risks—is not necessarily empowering for women; nor is household wealth, as proxied by their asset ownership. Increased involvement in the market is not necessarily correlated with greater gender equality. Education is positively correlated with higher empowerment of both men and women, but the strength of this association varies. Training and extension services are generally positively associated with empowerment but could also exacerbate the inequality in empowerment between men and women in the same household. All in all, culture and context determine whether participation in value chains—and which node of the value chain—is empowering. In designing food systems interventions, care should be taken to consider the social and cultural contexts in which these food systems operate, so that interventions do not exacerbate existing gender inequalities.

scholarly journals Home > All Content > Vol 49, No 1 (2018) Value Chains for Nutrition in South Asia: Who Delivers, How, and to Whom? Cover Page Edited by: Mar Maestre and Nigel Poole February 2018 Volume 49 Issue 1 There is currently much talk of the private sector role in nutrition, and whether the state can ‘shape’ the market to deliver better nutritional outcomes. This issue of the IDS Bulletin presents research findings in this area, developed by the consortium of research partners under the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) programme. The IDS Bulletin aims to analyse existing (or potential) agri-food value chain pathways for delivering nutritious foods from agriculture to vulnerable populations in South Asia. It discusses the role of both public and private actors in making these value chains more effective in achieving sustained increased consumption of nutrient-rich foods. In comparing the different pathways, this set of articles warns against the assumption that increasing the supply of certain products will directly lead to increased consumption. It highlights how, in South Asia, interventions or policies that try to enhance these pathways often struggle because of a mix of supply, distribution, marketing, and consumption challenges. This IDS Bulletin argues that the key to sustainable food systems might be a ‘food sovereignty’ approach. This calls for awareness at all levels of decision-making – public, private and civil society – in the promotion of nutrition-sensitive value chains, emphasising the need for a stronger government role in shaping agri-food value chain pathways. By looking at the limits of what business can and cannot achieve in a given market environment, the IDS Bulletin provides insights to policymakers about how to create an appropriate institutional environment that shapes how these value chains operate for the benefit of nutritionally vulnerable target groups. SUBSCRIBE FOR PRINT Value Chains for Nutrition in South Asia: Who Delivers, How, and To Whom? Mar Maestre Morales, Nigel Poole DOI: 10.19088/1968-2018.100 ABSTRACT FULL ISSUE PDF Introduction: Who Delivers Nutritious Foods, How and To Whom in South Asia? Mar Maestre Morales, Nigel Poole DOI: 10.19088/10.19088/1968-2018.101 ABSTRACT PDFONLINE ARTICLE Private Business Driven Value Chains and Nutrition: Insights from India Rohit Parasar, R V Bhavani DOI: 10.19088/10.19088/1968-2018.102 ABSTRACT PDFONLINE ARTICLE Business-Based Strategies for Improved Nutrition: The Case of Grameen Danone Foods Jessica Agnew, Spencer Henson DOI: 10.19088/10.19088/1968-2018.103 ABSTRACT PDFONLINE ARTICLE Going Against the Grain of Optimism: Flour Fortification in Pakistan Natasha Ansari, Rashid Mehmood, Haris Gazdar DOI: 10.19088/10.19088/1968-2018.104 ABSTRACT PDFONLINE ARTICLE Food Distribution Value Chain under the Integrated Child Development Services R V Bhavani, Rohit Parasar DOI: 10.19088/10.19088/1968-2018.105 ABSTRACT PDFONLINE ARTICLE Milk for Milk, Water for Water? Pakistan’s Dairy Value Chain Innovation Natasha Ansari, Rashid Mehmood, Haris Gazdar DOI: 10.19088/10.19088/1968-2018.106 ABSTRACT PDFONLINE ARTICLE Building Dairy Value Chains in Badakhshan, Afghanistan Nigel Poole DOI: 10.19088/10.19088/1968-2018.107 ABSTRACT PDFONLINE ARTICLE A Study on Milk Value Chain for the Poor in Bangladesh Abid Ul Kabir, Sirajul Islam, Md. Hasib Reza DOI: 10.19088/1968-2018.108 ABSTRACT PDFONLINE ARTICLE Focus on Gender, Context, and Evidence: CARE’s Lessons Learned

IDS Bulletin ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Janoch ◽  
Elly Kaganzi ◽  
Thomas Schaetzel
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Food Distribution ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Food Value

Fulfilling the Right to Food for South Africa: Justice, Security, Sovereignty and the Politics of Malnutrition

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-152
Author(s):  
Busiso Helard Moyo ◽  
Anne Marie Thompson Thow
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Food Justice ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Right To Food ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

Despite South Africa’s celebrated constitutional commitments that have expanded and deepened South Africa’s commitment to realise socio-economic rights, limited progress in implementing right to food policies stands to compromise the country’s developmental path. If not a deliberate policy choice, the persistence of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms is a deep policy failure.  Food system transformation in South Africa requires addressing wider issues of who controls the food supply, thus influencing the food chain and the food choices of the individual and communities. This paper examines three global rights-based paradigms – ‘food justice’, ‘food security’ and ‘food sovereignty’ – that inform activism on the right to food globally and their relevance to food system change in South Africa; for both fulfilling the right to food and addressing all forms of malnutrition. We conclude that the emerging concept of food sovereignty has important yet largely unexplored possibilities for democratically managing food systems for better health outcomes.

Circular agri-food systems: A governance perspective for the analysis of sustainable agri-food value chains

2021 ◽  
Vol 170 ◽  
pp. 120878
Author(s):  
Bruno Varella Miranda ◽  
Guilherme Fowler A. Monteiro ◽  
Vinicius Picanço Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Food Value

Operationalising resilience in tropical agricultural value chains

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Aboah ◽  
Mark M.J. Wilson ◽  
Karl M. Rich ◽  
Michael C. Lyne
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Food System ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Citation Network ◽  
System Level ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Common Source ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Stakeholder Interactions

Purpose The analysis of the concept of resilience in supply chain management studies mostly focuses on the downstream side of the value chain and tacitly assumes an unlimited supply of raw materials. This assumption is unreasonable for agricultural value chains, as upstream disruptions clearly have a material impact on the availability of raw materials, and indeed, are a common source of supply problems. This paper aims to present a framework for the operationalisation of the concept of socioecological resilience in agricultural value chains that incorporates upstream activities. Design/methodology/approach A citation network analysis was adopted to review articles. A conceptual framework is then advanced to identify elements of resilience and indicators relevant to tropical agricultural value chains. Findings There are limited studies that assess resilience in the food chain context. Flexibility, collaboration, adaptability and resourcefulness are key elements for assessing resilience at the individual chain actor level. However, the paper argues that adaptability is the relevant element for the assessment of resilience at an aggregate food system level because it considers the alteration of a system’s state of resilience. Practical implications The proposed framework and propositions accommodate stakeholder interactions in the value chain and could serve as a tool to guide the assessment of resilience in agricultural value chains. Originality/value This paper is one of the few to extend resilience to cover the socioecological interaction aspects for supply chains that yield the raw materials needed for continuity in channel-wide value creation processes.

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