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Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability

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A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Economics, Policies and Rural Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2021) | Viewed by 67263

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. David Barling

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Guest Editor

Centre for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Management Research, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
Interests: food policy; food governance; food systems; sustainable food security

Prof. Antonella Samoggia

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Guest Editor

Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Interests: agro-food chain; agro-food governance; food products; consumer behaviour

Dr. Guðrún Ólafsdóttir

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Guest Editor

Applied Supply Chain Systems (ASCS) Research Group, University of Iceland, School of Engineering and Natural Sciences Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Sciences. Reykjavík, Iceland
Interests: food value chains; sustainability assessment; environmental impacts; traceability; quality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For farmer-growers, the road to market can be complex as their produce moves through the food value chain to the final consumer. The workings and management of food value chains, in turn, shape what is grown and where, in agriculture, horticulture, and aquaculture. The resilience of food chains to environmental, economic, societal, geo-political, pandemic, and climate-related weather shocks are key determinants of the food and nutrition security of the food supply for modern societies. The relationship between the major actors in supply chains determines the share of the value of the final product that the farmer-grower and the other actors receive. Fairness, as an outcome in the distribution of value, and as a set of processes in how the distribution is determined, has attracted the attention of policy-makers. For example, the European Union has introduced legislative measures to prohibit unfair trading practices between businesses in food value chains and greater transparency of price distribution, through market monitoring and reporting systems. The Fair Trade movement originated with the need to provide farmer-growers and their rural communities with adequate rewards for their production in cross-continental supply chains. Many food value chains are dependent on low-paid, often precarious, and immigrant labor, from harvests to packing, through to food service and retail, raising questions about social sustainability. Material and information flows through food chains, and their energy and environmental life cycle impacts, serve to generate external environmental costs along the chain, as well as associated health benefits and costs, and waste. Scientific studies are sought for publication in this Special Issue of Agriculture that provide theoretical approaches and tools for analysis, including methodologies for measurement and modeling, to improve the understanding of the dynamics of food value chains, to enhance their resilience, fairness, and sustainability.

Prof. David Barling
Prof. Antonella Samoggia
Dr. Guðrún Ólafsdóttir
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. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

Material and information flows along food value chains
Food value chain resilience
Healthy, fair, and sustainable food value chains
Fairness and food value chain management
Public policy interventions and fairer food value chains
Food value chain relationships
Governance of food value chains
Food value chains and food and nutrition security
Sustainability indicators and assessment of food value chains and systems
Social sustainability and food value chains
Impacts of food value chains on rural economy and communities
Food value chains and management of logistics, food quality, and integrity
Dynamic supply and value chain models
Agent-based modeling of food supply and value chains
Simulation modeling of food supply and value chains
Methodological approaches to fair price analysis along the food value chain
Economic analyses of market integration
Price formation and transmission along food value chains
Trade persistency in food value chains
Market power in food value chains

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

5 pages, 199 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability

by David Barling, Antonella Samoggia and Gudrun Olafsdottir

Agriculture 2022, 12(5), 720; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture12050720 - 18 May 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3083

Abstract

For farmers–growers, the routes to market can be complex as their produce moves through the food value chain to the final consumer [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

21 pages, 314 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Identifying the Policy Instrument Interactions to Enable the Public Procurement of Sustainable Food

by Kelly Parsons and David Barling

Agriculture 2022, 12(4), 506; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture12040506 - 02 Apr 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3186

Abstract

A public food procurement policy has been identified as having significant potential to drive food consumption and production towards greater sustainability, delivering social, economic, environmental, and health benefits to multiple beneficiaries. However, empirical research reveals that the potential of public procurement of sustainable food (PPSF) is not currently being realised, with studies from a range of different countries identifying stubborn barriers. Situating PPSF within the complex multi-instrument setting of the broader policy system, and utilising the concept of policy interactions, can help to explain, articulate, and provide pathways to address barriers identified in empirical studies on PPSF. A desk survey of PPSF in different countries identified the range of instruments which interact with procurement policy. The findings detail PPSF instruments interacting with many other policy instruments, resulting in both positive reinforcing and negative undermining effects. Taken as a whole, these interactions suggest a ‘policy package’ of instruments which should be considered in PPSF policy design to maximise effectiveness and capitalise on its transformative potential. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

30 pages, 3681 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Conceptual System Dynamics and Agent-Based Modelling Simulation of Interorganisational Fairness in Food Value Chains: Research Agenda and Case Studies

by Seán McGarraghy, Gudrun Olafsdottir, Rossen Kazakov, Élise Huber, William Loveluck, Ingunn Y. Gudbrandsdottir, Lukáš Čechura, Gianandrea Esposito, Antonella Samoggia, Pierre-Marie Aubert, David Barling, Ivan Đurić, Tinoush J. Jaghdani, Maitri Thakur, Nína M. Saviolidis and Sigurdur G. Bogason

Agriculture 2022, 12(2), 280; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture12020280 - 16 Feb 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4890

Abstract

System dynamics and agent-based simulation modelling approaches have a potential as tools to evaluate the impact of policy related decision making in food value chains. The context is that a food value chain involves flows of multiple products, financial flows and decision making among the food value chain players. Each decision may be viewed from the level of independent actors, each with their own motivations and agenda, but responding to externalities and to the behaviours of other actors. The focus is to show how simulation modelling can be applied to problems such as fairness and power asymmetries in European food value chains by evaluating the outcome of interventions in terms of relevant operational indicators of interorganisational fairness (e.g., profit distribution, market power, bargaining power). The main concepts of system dynamics and agent-based modelling are introduced and the applicability of a hybrid of these methods to food value chains is justified. This approach is outlined as a research agenda, and it is demonstrated how cognitive maps can help in the initial conceptual model building when implemented for specific food value chains studied in the EU Horizon 2020 VALUMICS project. The French wheat to bread chain has many characteristics of food value chains in general and is applied as an example to formulate a model that can be extended to capture the functioning of European FVCs. This work is to be further progressed in a subsequent stream of research for the other food value chain case studies with different governance modes and market organisation, in particular, farmed salmon to fillet, dairy cows to milk and raw tomato to processed tomato. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

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19 pages, 1925 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Designing Just Transition Pathways: A Methodological Framework to Estimate the Impact of Future Scenarios on Employment in the French Dairy Sector

by Pierre-Marie Aubert, Baptiste Gardin, Élise Huber, Michele Schiavo and Christophe Alliot

Agriculture 2021, 11(11), 1119; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11111119 - 10 Nov 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3179

Abstract

This paper proposes an innovative framework to describe sustainable transitions of food systems while considering simultaneously socio-economic and environmental issues, in a just transition perspective. This framework (i) describes the structural changes needed for a sustainable transition in food systems; (ii) assess their effects on employment at the farm and processing industry level; (iii) detect the political levers needed to make this transition a just one—that is, preserving jobs and livelihoods for communities. Using the decarbonation pathway for the agricultural sector issued from the French National Low-Carbon Strategy as reference, we developed two scenarios for the French dairy sector which have the same level of climate ambitious, but a different approach to reach the target. Aiming exclusively to achieve a greenhouse gases reduction, the first scenario relies only on supply side measures. This scenario has a negative impact in terms of employment loss at the farm level and in the agri-food sector. In contrast, a multifunctional scenario considering simultaneously climate, biodiversity, health, and employment issues, and playing with policy measures targeting supply, demand and market organisation can maintain jobs in the farm and agri-food sector, contributes to restore the agro-biodiversity and develops food products compatible with healthy nutritional guidelines. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

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17 pages, 2173 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Drivers of Productivity Change in the Italian Tomato Food Value Chain

by Lukáš Čechura, Zdeňka Žáková Kroupová and Antonella Samoggia

Agriculture 2021, 11(10), 996; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11100996 - 13 Oct 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2693

Abstract

This study evaluated productivity dynamics and identified sources of productivity growth in Italian tomato production and processing. We used a stochastic frontier input distance function with four error components—heterogeneity, statistical noise, persistent and transient inefficiency—and a four-step estimation procedure with a system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator in the first step to address the endogeneity problem. The results reveal significant differences in the productivity and efficiency of tomato production and processing. Moreover, there are considerable differences among the different sizes of tomato producers, with the main variations observed for scale efficiency. While tomato processors operate at an optimal production size, tomato producers are characterized by considerable economies of scale, especially small producers. These results thus suggest that there is significant opportunity for technical efficiency improvements at both stages of the value chain. Finally, due to improvements made to scale efficiency, extensive productivity growth was observed for the group of small tomato producers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

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17 pages, 5751 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of a Hybrid Simulation Framework for the Production Planning Process in the Atlantic Salmon Supply Chain

by Thomas Vempiliyath, Maitri Thakur and Vincent Hargaden

Agriculture 2021, 11(10), 907; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11100907 - 22 Sep 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2511

Abstract

The farmed salmon supply chain has a highly complex and integrated structure, where activities occur both in the sea and on land. Due to this complexity, the supply chain needs appropriate decision-support tools to aid the production planning process, which capture the material flows, information flows and behaviours of the decision makers in the chain. This paper proposes a hybrid simulation framework for production planning using the case of the Norwegian Atlantic salmon supply chain. This hybrid simulation comprises agent-based modelling (ABM) to capture the autonomous and interacting decision making behaviour of the supply chain actors, while discrete-event simulation (DES) is employed to model the various production processes within the chain. The simulation is implemented using AnyLogic™ version 8.0 simulation software, using a case study from the Norwegian farmed salmon sector. The proposed modelling framework provides a deeper understanding of the activities in the salmon supply chain, thereby enabling improved decision making. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

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22 pages, 4015 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring the Governance and Fairness in the Milk Value Chain: A Case Study in Vietnam

by Viet Hoang, An Nguyen, Carmen Hubbard and Khanh-Duy Nguyen

Agriculture 2021, 11(9), 884; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11090884 - 15 Sep 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 13620

Abstract

Governance and fairness in the food value chain have gained considerable attention from both policymakers and scholars, especially in developing countries. This study analysed the milk value chain, exploring its governance and fairness, and assessed the regulatory interventions across the milk value chain in Vietnam using a qualitative framework and the global value chain governance model. The results show that Vietnam’s milk production and dairy market have developed notably since the reforms. The value chain is structured according to three governance models, i.e., relational, captive, and hierarchy models. Vietnam’s milk value chain has progressed through three building phases, expanding in breadth, and undergoing in-depth development, and the governance models have adjusted accordingly. However, Vietnamese dairy farms have been exposed to a low level of fairness across the supply chain. Although dairy farmers in the relational model may benefit from more power and fairness in the short term, farmers in the captive model may gain benefits and potential fairness in the long term. Vietnam has diverse regulatory interventions to enhance farmers’ fairness and welfare, and the results are notable. However, not all farmers have benefitted from these policies, and measures regarding fairness and welfare should be diverse, gradual, and inclusive. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

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20 pages, 843 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial Price Dynamics and Asymmetric Price Transmission in Skim Milk Powder International Trade: Evidence from Export Prices for New Zealand and Ireland

by Huidan Xue, Chenguang Li and Liming Wang

Agriculture 2021, 11(9), 860; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11090860 - 08 Sep 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2834

Abstract

A fast-changing global landscape highlights the importance of understanding spatial price dynamics in key international markets such as China, especially in the era of COVID-19 pandemic with international food trade and food system experiencing an unprecedented challenge. Nowadays, New Zealand’s dominant position in China’s dairy import market is being challenged by European Union (EU) dairy exporters leading to intensified market competition. Using monthly export data of skim milk powder (SMP), we applied threshold cointegration models along with asymmetric error correction models to examine spatial price dynamics and price transmissions of New Zealand and Ireland in Chinese and global markets. We found that New Zealand’s export prices retain their leadership position in China, Ireland’s export prices are well more aligned with those in international markets. In terms of own-country price transmission, Ireland’s relatively symmetric and swift adjustments were found to contrast with New Zealand’s SMP export prices, which displayed more asymmetric price transmissions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

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21 pages, 399 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Market Imperfections within the European Wheat Value Chain: The Case of France and the United Kingdom

by Lukáš Čechura and Tinoush Jamali Jaghdani

Agriculture 2021, 11(9), 838; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11090838 - 31 Aug 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3068

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on the analysis of market imperfections in the French and U.K. wheat value chains. We used mark-up and mark-down models and stochastic frontier analysis to estimate the degree of market imperfections in two completely different wheat-to-bread chains for two stages/sectors—milling and baking. Our results reveal some degree of market imperfections within the input and output markets for both the milling and baking sectors in France and the United Kingdom. However, the abuse of bargaining power is especially pronounced in the input market for the second stage of wheat processing, particularly in the French baking sector. However, we did not observe the expected positive association between the degree of market imperfections and company size except for a group of middle, large, and very large companies within the millers’ input market. Small companies indicate considerably high values of “Lerner”/Lerner indices, suggesting a benefit from other sources of competitive advantage (such as quality, niche markets, etc.). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

21 pages, 1176 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Productivity and Efficiency in European Milk Production: Can We Observe the Effects of Abolishing Milk Quotas?

by Lukáš Čechura, Zdeňka Žáková Kroupová and Irena Benešová

Agriculture 2021, 11(9), 835; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11090835 - 31 Aug 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3024

Abstract

The study aims to explore the sources of competitiveness of dairy producers before and after the abolition of milk quotas in selected EU member states. The investigation is based on the stochastic frontier modelling of an input distance function in the specification of the four-error-component model. The model is estimated with a multistep procedure employing the generalized method of moments estimator, addressing the potential endogeneity of netputs, and panel data gained from the FADN database. The results revealed that total factor productivity experienced an increasing trend in the majority of the analysed countries. Since the main driver of productivity growth was found to be the scale effect, our findings support the hypothesis that abolishing milk quotas has a positive effect. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

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13 pages, 1154 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Global Wheat Market Dynamics: What Is the Role of the EU and the Black Sea Wheat Exporters?

by Miranda Svanidze and Ivan Đurić

Agriculture 2021, 11(8), 799; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11080799 - 22 Aug 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5063

Abstract

Over the last two decades, three countries in the Black Sea Region—Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan—became global leaders in grain production and trade, and replaced the USA and France as the most previous largest wheat exporting countries. In this study we investigate world wheat price linkages and identify the current “price leaders” of the global wheat market. This empirical analysis is focused on the price relationships between eight of the largest wheat exporting countries and uses a cointegration framework and a vector error-correction model. The results show that, regarding price formation on the world wheat market, the French price is more important for transmitting price signals to other wheat export markets compared to the USA. Furthermore, our results indicate that, despite being leaders in wheat export volumes, the Black Sea wheat prices in Russia and Ukraine adjust to price changes in France, the USA, and Canada. Albeit unrealistic in the short run, the creation of the futures market in the Black Sea region might significantly improve the participation of Black Sea markets in price formation of the global wheat market. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

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16 pages, 1486 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Contract Farming on Farmers’ Income in the Food Value Chain: A Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Study in Vietnam

by Viet Hoang

Agriculture 2021, 11(8), 797; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11080797 - 21 Aug 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 12724

Abstract

This study empirically analyzes the influence of contract farming on income and farming difficulties in Vietnam by using the econometric models and theoretically identifying the affecting mechanism of contract farming on income, sustainability, and welfare by using the qualitative method. The empirical results show that contract farming insignificantly impacts farms’ income while it can facilitate farming activities and decrease difficulties. The factors of education—head, gender of head, type of crop, and technology may affect farmers’ income. The impacting mechanism of contract farming on income, sustainability, and welfare is theoretically proposed as follows: Contract farming initially impacts the intermediate factors such as cooperative, market access, knowledge and skill, product quality, technology, and support. These factors then affect capacity, linkage, quality, and certification which can enhance farmers’ competitiveness. In the long term, stronger competitiveness, higher price, increasing productivity, and lower cost may significantly improve income, sustainability, and welfare. In general, contract farming may have positive impacts on income, sustainability, and welfare in the medium term and long term. In the short term, the result is not significant due to the similar or lower price comparing with the spot market price, growing production cost, decreasing productivity, and weak contract performance. The findings may help policymakers decide how to expand contract farming and its benefits. Economic scholars can test and compare both quantitative and qualitative findings in other contexts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

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24 pages, 2076 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Operationalization of Interorganizational Fairness in Food Systems: From a Social Construct to Quantitative Indicators

by Ingunn Y. Gudbrandsdottir, Gudrun Olafsdottir, Gudmundur Valur Oddsson, Hlynur Stefansson and Sigurdur G. Bogason

Agriculture 2021, 11(1), 36; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11010036 - 08 Jan 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4195

Abstract

Fairness issues within food systems are of increasing concern for policy makers and other stakeholders. Given the topicality and policy relevance of fairness within food systems, there is value in exploring the subject further. Simulation modelling has been successfully used to develop and test policy interventions. However, the subjectivity and intangibleness of fairness perceptions make them difficult to operationalize in a quantitative model. The objective of this study is to facilitate research on fairness in food systems using simulation modelling by defining the social construct of fairness in model operational terms. The operationalization is conducted in two steps. First, the construct of fairness is conceptually defined in terms of its dimensions, antecedents, and consequences using the literature on interorganizational fairness. Then, by focusing specifically on fairness issues within food systems, the conceptual definition is used as a basis for the identification of proxy indicators of fairness. Seven groups of factors related to fairness perceptions were identified during the conceptualization phase: financial outcomes, operational outcomes, power, environmental stability, information sharing, relationship quality, and controls. From these factor groups, five indicators of fairness that are operational in a quantitative model were identified: profit margin as an indicator of distributive fairness and four indicators of procedural fairness related to market power and bargaining power. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Food Value Chains: Resilience, Fairness and Sustainability)

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