Food System Dynamics (E-Journals)
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Interdependent Relations Between Agribusiness And Solar Photovoltaic Energy
Full text linkThe energy and food systems are interrelated. On the one hand, about 30% of the world's energy is consumed within agri-food systems, mainly in the post-harvest stage, when fossil fuels are used. On the other hand, energy is also responsible for a third of greenhouse gas emissions in these systems. Both must be transformed to meet the current and future demand for food and energy in a fair, environmentally sustainable, and inclusive manner, directed towards the co-production of these resources (International Renewable Energy Agency- IRENA and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations- FAO, 2021; FAO, 2011)
Rural High School Students Self-Reported Shopping Frequency for Organic Food Products: The Role of Subjective Norm, Attitudes, Cultural Preferences, School Type and Gender
Full text linkTo contribute to the research gap about the role of adolescents in household purchasing decisions, a survey (n=565) was conducted in Lower Austria in 2018 to investigate rural high school students self-reported shopping frequency for organic food products. The Theory of Planned Behavior, extended with socio-demographic characteristics, cultural preferences and attitudinal variables is used as a theoretical framework. Key findings include the influence of attitude toward organic food products and subjective norm, particularly primary socialization, on self-reported shopping frequency. Socio-demographic characteristics and cultural preferences determine attitudes and have an impact on self-reported shopping frequency
Quality Attributes in Child Food Packaging Design: Photovoice Study with Beninese Mothers
Full text linkChild malnutrition is a significant predicament in Benin, with 32% of children under the age of five being stunted and 5% wasted. The artisanal production of affordable, tasty, and nutritious baby food by local womenentrepreneurs has the potential to mitigate this issue. Nevertheless, appropriate, professional and attractive packaging is necessary to reduce spoilage and gain access to markets in both urban and peri-urban areas. The aim of our investigation was to identify items that could potentially convey affirmative quality characteristics on the packaging of infant formula for mothers. To achieve this, we conducted a photovoice study in the Parakou community, situated in northern Benin, with 15 mothers of children below the age of five. The photovoice methodology delineates the experiences and perceptions of the participants through photographs. The findings indicated that thirteen photographs of various elements, including nature (fruits, trees, gardens), people (babies), and utensils, had a positive value for the mothers. However, it still needs to be determined whether thedepiction of these elements or their derivatives on the packaging of children's food would generate interest and instill confidence in mothers to accept artisanal child food products. This could become a competitive advantage for local producers of infant foods in the face of competition from imported products
Insect-Friendly Path Margins and Diverse Stakeholder Perspectives - A Dialogue And Communication Strategy For The Agricultural Landscape On The Left Bank Of Rhine-Sieg District, Germany
Full text linkIn intensively used agricultural landscapes, path margins are one of the few refuges and nurseries for wildlife. They provide e. g. food sources and overwintering opportunities for many insects, serve as migration corridors for animals, protect soil from erosion, increase its water-holding capacity, and increase soil organic carbon, contributing thus directly to biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. Path margins are often municipally owned but used and managed by agriculture. For a path margin to be functional, certain conditions must be fulfilled, such as the width, the botanical composition, and how it is managed through the seasons. Therefore, it must be managed under specific requirements. A multifunctional path margin can be achieved only through the commitment of all stakeholders (e.g., farmers, municipalities, conservationists, and civil society).In this study, we assessed the different stakeholders' perspectives in implementing an insect-friendly path margins project in the agricultural landscape on the left bank of the Rhine between the Eifel and the Rhine in the German Rhine-Sieg district developing and implementing a communication strategy. Three main activities were implemented: (1) A Q-Study build the basis for a (2 ) local stakeholder dialogue workshop and (3) the development of social media materials to communicate project activities.Part of the communication strategy was the Q-Method. This method allowed us to identify the different positions of stakeholders regarding municipal blooming path margins. Through a literature review, 65 statements on insect protection in path margins were pre-selected (first stage), and an additional expert survey was implemented to validate this pre-selection. After the validation of experts and the merging of similar statements, a set of 35 statements was identified as the Q-Sample (second stage), further this 35-statement set was used in a stakeholder survey to rank and sort according to the own stakeholder's views ( Q-Sort, third stage), data was analyzed using factor analysis (fourth stage). As a result, two main factors or perspectives were found: A) perspective on insect-friendly protection measures and, B) perspective on the maintenance and avoidance of negative effects. Finally, these different perspectives were presented and discussed in a stakeholder workshop contributing to the project's communication activities and setting the basis to discuss further project activities taking into account the identified perspectives from local stakeholders
How does Organic Agriculture Contribute to Sustainable Development? Organic Agriculture in Taiwan
Full text linkSustainability issues in agrifood chains are receiving increasing attention. However, few studies have demonstrated the dynamic interrelationships between economic, environmental, and social indicators. Regarding these indicators as components of sustainable development, through sensitivity simulations, we found that (1) organic farming techniques as key to environmental and economic improvement by indirect sales and (2) direct sales channels can strengthen environmental and social benefits. The findings suggest that developing diversified production and sales channels is essential for the sustainable development of organic agriculture to maintain economic, social, and environmental sustainability
The Potential of Algae As Food: A Norwegian Survey On The Willingness of Consumers To Try Algae-Made Food
Full text linkSince the world’s population is increasing, alternative food sources must be tapped. Although algae have a high potential to become a part of our diets due to their favorable nutritional properties, there is a little information on the willingness of consumers in Norway to try algae-made foods. In this paper we used a Norwegian survey to address this question. We constructed an order logistic regression model and predicted conditional probabilities to try algae food. The results show that among the most important aspect for willingness to try food with algae is age, health conscientiousness, and environmental attitudes
Egyptian food security of wheat in light of new challenges
Full text linkThe research aims mainly to study Some economic aspects of Egyptian food security of wheat in light of new challenges through studying of several sub-objectives represented in: estimating the models of the general trends function of some economic indicators of wheat in Egypt during the study period (2005-2020), estimating the size of wheat food gap and knowing the most important factors responsible for it, studying the most important indicators of Egyptian food security from wheat, studying the expected effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war on wheat supply chains in Egypt, and studying the policies and means to achieve Egyptian food security from wheat. Descriptive and quantitative analysis were used. The study depends on secondary data, which collected from local and foreign sources during the period (2005-2020). A study models of the general trend function for economic indicators showed that each of the total domestic production of wheat, domestic consumption, the average per capita share of wheat, the quantity of wheat imports, the food gap of wheat, the price of wheat Egyptian imports, the periods of covering the local production, and the quantity of imports for daily consumption of wheat, self-sufficiency ratio and the period of coverage of domestic production for daily consumption. It was found that all of these variables took a general, statistically significant, upward trend at the significant level (0.01). The statistical significance of the variables of the world import price of wheat and the total of the production and import coverage periods was not shown for daily domestic consumption of wheat, while the annual growth rates varied as shown in the research. The conduct study shows that the most important variables specific to the food gap of wheat are the local production of wheat, and the national consumption of wheat where it was found that the impact of each of these two variables on wheat gap be negative.For the current situation of wheat production in light of 2030 strategic vision and the impact, the study showed that the strategic stock for wheat is estimated at about 1.4 million tons and the average local consumption of wheat is estimated at about 16.92 million tons during the study period (2005-2020), thus estimated food security of about 0.15 is therefore required to take various actions which lead to increase the size of the strategic stock of wheat enough for half of it needs for domestic consumption even come close to the value of suitable coefficient of wheat food security. The study showed that the policies and means to achieve wheat food security include horizontal agricultural development policy, vertical agricultural development policy, the policy of rationalizing the consumption of wheat, policy of consumer subsidy of bread, and the policy of diversifying sources of imported wheat.For the expected effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war on wheat supply chains in Egypt, it is clear from the research that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict led to an impact on world food supplies in general, and wheat particular, and on Egypt and the Middle East. It is possible that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis will increase the food insecurity that some countries suffer from, including Egypt, as the lack of supplies and the rise in food prices will lead to food insecurity and weakness for many countries.In the light of the results of the study illustrated by research it has been possible to reach some of the following recommendations:-Work to expedite the disbursement of the price of the crop supplied to the mills.- Intensify the efforts of agricultural extension and agricultural research centers to educate farmers about the importance of resisting pests and diseases that affect the crop, and help them obtain pesticides that are not harmful to the environment necessary for this.- Increasing of wheat production by expanding the wheat crop in the new lands.- Raising the productive capacity of the wheat crop by circulating high-productivity varieties that suit each of the administrative centers in Egypt.- Rationalizing wheat consumption by reducing the volume of wasted wheat in the production and marketing stages.- To achieve food security, it is necessary to prepare awareness programs to implement the policy of breeding control, as it is one of the most important factors determining the demand for Egyptian wheat imports.- The state should review wheat supply prices in the coming years in order to encourage farmers to plant the largest areas allocated for wheat, and therefore, the current world prices of wheat must be considered when pricing
Supply Chain Network Design of Perishable Food in Surplus Periods
Full text linkResearch on the design of the perishable food supply chain network has increased in recent years. However, little attention has been given to those seasonal foods that generate periods of oversupply and, particularly, to their impact on the sustainability of small producers in developing countries. This research proposes and develops a multi-objective mixed linear programming model for perishable fruits in a south American country at oversupply periods. It minimizes losses and transportation costs and maximizes the inclusion of farmers. It considers four echelons of the supply chain: farms, collection centers, distribution centers and the demand, which is represented by the agroindustry, wholesalers, shopkeepers, and hypermarkets. The Epsilon constraint method is used to solve the multi-objective model. A set of Pareto optimal solutions helped evaluate tradeoffs between the three objectives and find the location of collection and distribution centers. The proposed generic mathematical model is applicable to any food supply chain, as it allows for the improvement of the established performance measures and the distribution flows for the different echelons. The model considers the losses in perishable food from the impacts caused by changes in temperature (T0) and humidity level (RH) at different thermal floors of mountain ranges
What kind of nature we are talking about? How animal and agricultural science experts assess consumer demand for more connection with nature in German dairy farming
Full text linkDairy farming has been the subject of public debate on animal welfare for a number of years now. Animal welfare discussions on dairy farming often include the demand for more nature connectedness in this area. This study focuses on the divergent perspectives of consumers and scientists on the importance of more nature connectedness for animal welfare strategies in German dairy farming. Within Europe, Germany is the main producer of cow’s milk and an important industry in many rural areas in Germany is dairy farming. The insights presented are based on qualitative interviews with dairy farming and livestock researchers from Germany and Austria. A key finding of this study is that we need to look more closely at the actual content of nature claims in animal welfare debates. The scientists interviewed tend to see idealized conditions in animal welfare discussions with images of nature which in fact seldom lead to improved conditions in dairy farming and, even then, only to a limited extent. The scientists interviewed rate calls for more nature connectedness in dairy farming from the nonagricultural public as anti-modern, complexity-reducing, and normative. Nevertheless, some of the scientists interviewed did have valuable insights into the nonagricultural public’s criticism of dairy farming practices. These scientists argued, however, that animal welfare needs to differentiate between nature connectedness and the innate needs of cattle when it comes to animal welfare strategies. An important conclusion of the study is that more discussion formats are needed to promote the exchange of ideas between different social groups attempting to understand animal welfare in dairy farming
Exploring Product Diversification: the Case of Contract and Non-contract Farmers in the Philippine Cavendish Banana Value Chain
Full text linkUncertainties arising from market fluctuations limit choices of banana famers under contracts. However, they can opt not to renew their contracts with multi-national firms to sell to spot market or diversify. This paper examines optimal portfolio of Cavendish banana products of contract and non-contract farmers under uncertainty. We explore the effect of diversification by including banana flour from rejects aside from fresh banana. Constrained M-estimation of parameters and robust portfolio optimization results show that (1) non-contract farms benefit more from diversifying compared to contract farms; and (2) prices are higher for non-contract farms but profits are lower compared to contract farms