Grown in Jamaica since the days of slavery, food yams are major staples in local diets and a significant non-traditional export crop. The cultivation system used today is the same as 300 years ago, with alleged unsustainable practices. A new cultivation system called minisett was introduced in 1985 but the adoption rate twenty four years later is extremely low.
Today, technological global agri-food economies dominated by vertically integrated large enterprises are failing in meeting the challenge of feeding a growing global population within the limits of the “Planetary Boundaries”, and are characterised by a “triple fracture” between agri-food economies and their three constitutive elements: nature, consumers, and producers. In parallel to this crisis, new eco-ethical-driven agri-food economies are built around new farming and food distribution practices to face the challenge of food system transition to sustainability.
Sustainability is becoming a pivotal guide for driving the governance strategies of value chains. Sustainable policy should have as its objective the perpetuation of production models over time to maintain its environmental, economic and social dimensions. Therefore, measuring the sustainability of a production system is fundamental to deepening the understanding of ongoing trends, considering the pressure exerted by agricultural policies, market dynamics and innovations introduced in the production system.
Ecological intensification has been proposed as a promising lever for a transition towards more sustainable food systems. Various food systems exist that are based on ecological intensification and may have potential for a sustainability transition. Little is known, however, about their diversity and about how they perform against dominant systems in terms of the multiple societal goals. The aim of this study is to contribute to knowledge about sustainability transitions in food systems through an empirical analysis of vegetable food systems in Chile.
The sustainability of food value chains is an increasing concern for consumers, food companies and policy-makers. Global food chains are often perceived to be less sustainable than local food chains. Yet, thorough food chain analyses and comparisons of different food chains across sustainability dimensions are rare. In this article it is analyzed the local Belgian and global Peruvian asparagus value chains and explore their sustainability performance.
This study investigated the sustainability challenges and the adoption of sustainability innovations along the value chain of flowering potted plants supplying the German market. Data was collected through eighteen in-depths interviews with chain actors from different stages of the value chain and analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The material flow of the value chain begins at the breeding level followed by the propagation level. Cuttings are produced mostly in African countries, rooted cuttings and potted plants are cultivated in Europe.
Con el objetivo de conocer las estrategias de comercialización de Walmart y las oportunidades de desarrollo de los pequeños productores hortícolas, se realizó un estudio en Acatzingo, uno de los principales municipios hortícolas del estado de Puebla, México. Se concluye que las negociaciones directas que establece Walmart con los pequeños productores hortícolas, la supresión de un eslabón de la cadena de valor del sistema hortícola y la manipulación de los precios de las hortalizas, son estrategias que apuntan hacia la hegemonía de esta cadena de autoservicio en el sistema hortícola
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.
Poverty is prevalent and widespread in rural Tanzania, where agriculture is the main activity. The government is making significant public investments intended to speed the growth of agriculture as a means to accelerate inclusive economic growth. In line with public investments, the government is promoting public–private partnerships by encouraging the use of improved agricultural innovations and linking farmers to markets, seeking to increase their yields and income.
Ce guide sur le suivi, l'évaluation et l'apprentissage a été préparé dans le cadre du projet Développement des capacités pour les systèmes d'innovation agricole (CDAIS), un partenariat mondial (Agrinatura, FAO et huit pays pilotes) qui vise à renforcer la capacité des pays et des principaux acteurs à innover dans des domaines complexes systèmes agricoles, améliorant ainsi les conditions de vie en milieu rural. Le CDAIS utilise une approche de cycle d'apprentissage continu pour soutenir les systèmes nationaux d'innovation agricole dans huit pays d'Afrique, d'Asie et d'Amérique centrale.