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

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)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.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Transition Pathways for the Farmed Salmon Value Chain: Industry Perspectives and Sustainability Implications

Publisher´s version / Útgefin greinSalmon is the most consumed farmed seafood in the EU and there is no indication that demand will abate. Yet salmon aquaculture’s environmental impacts are significant, and its future is likely to be shaped by demands of increased but at the same time more sustainable production. This study developed an integrated theoretical framework based on the multi-level perspective (MLP) and a global value chain (GVC) governance framework and applied it to the global farmed salmon value chain. The objective was to provide insights on the most likely transition pathway towards sustainability based on industry and expert perspectives. The perceptions on challenges and drivers of change, were gathered through focus groups and in-depth interviews, and fitted to the integrated framework to facilitate the transition pathway analysis. Viewing the qualitative findings in the context of the MLP framework provided information about the current workings of the system, the drivers of change in the socio-technical landscape and niche-innovations and their potential to challenge or enhance the current system and thus indicated possible system transitions. To emphasize the role of industry actors in shaping the future of the salmon value chain, the analysis was strengthened using the GVC model which added information about power relations, signaling the ability of system actors to motivate or resist change. The findings indicate that, due to resistance in the regime and the fact that niche-innovations are not yet sufficiently developed, the farmed salmon value chain will continue to be predominated by traditional sea-based aquaculture but that there will be a gradual shift towards more diversity in terms of production methods in response to landscape pressures. The discussion addresses sustainability challenges and policy implications for the farmed salmon value chain and highlights the need for a food system perspective.Peer Reviewe

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

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