Symposium introduction - ethics and sustainable agri-food governance: appraisal and new directions

© Springer Nature B.V. 2019This Symposium contributes to a theoretical and methodological discussion on the role of ethics and responsibility in the governance of agri-food systems, as drivers for transitions towards sustainability. The papers in the Symposium are the outcomes of a collective reflection that was initiated at the European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS) 2017 congress, within the Working Group on Ethics and sustainable agri-food governance. The session examined how ethics and ethical values drive change in the agri-food system, and how they increasingly evolve and influence food system governance. Building on the outcomes of the ESRS Working Group, the collection of papers in this Symposium fosters and deepens the discussion on the role of ethics in food systems, ranging across different food system actors, activities and contexts and presents new theoretical and methodological frameworks to understand the construction of more ethical agri-food systems.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Sustainability of local and global food chains: Introduction to the special issue

Sustainability assessment is one of the keys to competition by food supply chains over sustainability. The way it is conceived and embodied into decision-makers' choices affects the competitiveness of local and global chains. Science-based assessment methodologies have made substantial progress, but uncertainties-as well as interests at stake-are high. There are no science-based methods that are able to give an unchallenged verdict over the sustainability performance of a firm, let alone a supply chain. Assessment methods are more suited for medium-large firm dimensions, as planning, monitoring, and reporting are costly. Moreover, the availability of data affects the choice of parameters to be measured, and many claims of local food are not easily measurable. To give local chains a chance to operate on a level playing field, there is the need to re-think sustainability assessment processes and tailor them to the characteristics of the analysed supply chains. We indicate seven key points on which we think scholars should focus their attention when dealing with food supply chain sustainability assessment

D3.4 Foresight prospects for the future of EU rural areas

This report is an overview of a sample of existing foresight and scenarios studies carried out at European and global level to identify plausible futures and scenarios for rural areas for time periods up to 2050. It provides an extended update of the SHERPA Working Document ‘Overview of a sample of existing foresight and scenario studies carried out at EU and global levels’ (Brunori and Mazzocchi, 2020), which encompassed a set of foresight studies from approximately between 2009-2019. Though not exclusively focused on rural areas, the potential for significant impacts on the latter was acknowledged in these studies and the report provided important insights in view to the then forthcoming process of the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas of the EU. A most recent set of studies have been appraised, carried out in the period from 2020 onwards. Amongst them, we pay specific attention to the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas of the European Union – and H2020 projects contributing to this consultation –, the JRC ‘Scenarios for EU Rural Areas 2040’, as well as other foresight studies not exclusively targeting rural areas, but addressing mega-trends and delivering outcomes of relevance to the future of rural areas

Opportunities and Barriers for Niche Marketing of Lamb in European LFAs based on Consumer Attitudes to Product Quality

With commodity prices continuing to decrease and with policy constraint that farmers cannot easily increase their incomes by increasing volumes of production, they must find alternative ways to maintain their standard of living. This can be achieved by either niche marketing of agricultural products or by environmental payments, which are either paid by the government or the consumer. The results of a consumer survey carried out in Less Favoured Areas in Scotland, Germany, Greece, France and Italy to assess consumer attitudes of what constitutes the quality of lamb and the extent to which this provides an opportunity to exploit niche marketing, are discussed. Consumers generally have much less interest in the use of regional labelling, ecologically friendly production systems or the linkage of landscape and production systems in the buying decision. It is concluded that potential exists to develop niche markets for lamb and that these niches demonstrate significant regional differences. Equally, however, it is concluded that there are only limited rewards for production systems which are sympathetic to the environment. To achieve this goal, policy intervention is required, geared directly to environmental management practices. Future policy support towards farmers in LFAs is needed as a mix of policy instrument. Nowadays, financial support of farming in LFAs is necessary to grant farmers income, but structural support (e. g. in marketing products under reliable labelling towards consumers’ requests with trust in the "added values") can help to increase LFA-farmers income without increasing subsidies

Food and nutrition security in Iran: Application of TOPSIS technique

Food and nutrition security is a multi-dimensional subject. The definition of the FAO in 1996, i.e. “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”, presents the following four core dimensions. It includes: a) physical availability of food, b) economic and physical access to food, c) food utilization, and d) stability of the other three dimensions. Consequently, achieving food and nutrition security, as the main goal of food systems, requires adequate Food Availability, Food Accessibility, Food Utilization and Food Stability. The pathway to food and nutrition security begins by exploring the challenges, whose knowledge is needed for developing adequate solutions. Thus, decision-making is the process of discovering the best decision from all of the possible alternatives. Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Models have received much consideration from researchers as a tool to assess and rank alternatives. Amongst various multi-criteria decision-making models, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) remains to work adequately. The major focus of the paper is to provide a synthesizing judgment about the Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) performance, including multiple and conflict criteria. We apply TOPSIS technique as a multi-criteria method, to build a dynamic quantitative national-level food and nutrition security index to be used as a benchmark for all dimensions of food and nutrition security, and prioritize the vulnerabilities of food system in the delivery of food and nutrition security in Iran. Using this technique, we survey how the food system has worked to provide food and nutrition security over time, in order to check if it has improved or worsened. We also analyze the level of overall vulnerability of food system by investigating changes in the four dimensions of food and nutrition security over the time in Iran

ORGANIC IN THE LOCAL VS GLOBAL ANTINOMY

Increasing attention is paid by European citizens to food chain characteristics, power relations and impacts. Distance travelled by food, its genuinity and capacity to convey cultural and landscape identity, fairness in the value chain and information robustness on quality specifications tend to assume a growing relevance in both public perception and business organisation. A triennial multidisciplinary and multicriteria study, funded under the EU 7th Framework Research Programme, aims to assess the performance of local and global food chains against economic, environmental, social, health and ethical dimensions. This paper examines how organic foods and method of production fits into the local/global discourse, as the subject emerges from an Italian literature review

Towards a new generation of (agri-) food policies

The succession of systemic crises in the last 20 years has affected our lives and has shaken the old order. The global community, represented by UN-based institutions, has encouraged a common effort to address global challenges. In the agri-food sector, one of the most relevant to the emerging societal challenges, the need for a new generation of agri-food policies is evident. The present paper reviews the recent literature on transformative policies, identifying their key characteristics - directionality, reflexivity, and market articulation - and proposing a framework to adapt these characteristics to the policy cycle

Explaining the determinants of on-farm diversification: The case Study of Tuscany Region.

The on-farm diversification toward multifunctional activities is perceived as central in the CAP policy reform and in Horizon 2020 strategies, because it strengthen territorial and social cohesion of the rural areas. While relations between farm-household diversification and rural economies are central into the process of multifunctionality and provision of public goods through agricultural activities, on-farm diversification activities could represent a relevant share of farm income. Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology literatures have developed models to explain the determinants of on-farm diversification. In this paper the determinants and the motivations to onfarm diversification toward activities different from crops and animal production are investigated The paper applies a count model to explain the amount of on-farm diversification alternatives that are applied in Tuscany farms. Results confirm that location to main touristic areas and closeness to urban markets are strong determinants of on-farm diversification. Results highlight also, a positive contribution of agricultural policies (both first pillar and second pillar policies) in determining diffusion of on-farm diversification activities

Food waste reduction and food poverty alleviation: a system dynamics conceptual model

The contradictions between food poverty affecting a large section of the global population and the everyday wastage of food, particularly in high income countries, have raised significant academic and public attention. All actors in the food chain have a role to play in food waste prevention and reduction, including farmers, food manufacturers and processors, caterers and retailers and ultimately consumers. Food surplus redistribution is considered by many as a partial solution to food waste reduction and food poverty mitigation, while others criticize charitable initiatives as inadequate responses, that inhibit governments from responsibly protecting the citizens right to food. This paper frames food assistance as “hybrid systems”, situating at the intersection of territorial food, public welfare and third sector voluntary systems. Based on available literature and reflections on previous research examining food banks in Italy, we develop a system dynamics conceptual mapping. The aim is to model a set of relations and dynamic mechanisms associated with variables relevant to food waste generation, food recovery for social purposes and food poverty alleviation. The analysis of feedback interactions highlights the (actual and potential) vulnerabilities of food assistance systems that occur when addressing food poverty by reducing food surplus. In summary, as the awareness on food poverty and food surplus arises, incentives to food recovery and redistribution strengthen the role of (voluntary) food assistance actors, increasing their exposure to drivers of change, such as retailers’ standards for food surplus prevention. This paper contributes to the current academic debate on charitable food assistance, with insights for policy makers and other systems’ actors