Food system resilience: Defining the concept

Resilience of Agricultural Value Chains in Developing Country Contexts: A Framework and Assessment Approach

Although agricultural value chain resilience is a crucial component to food security and sustainable food systems in developing countries, it has received little attention. This paper synthesizes knowledge from the social-ecological systems (SES), supply chain management, and value chain development literature to make three contributions to this research gap. First, we conceptualize agricultural value chain resilience and relate it to overall food system resilience. Second, we identify seven principles that are hypothesized to contribute to SES resilience, relate them to supply chain management theory, and discuss their application in agricultural value chains. A key insight is that the appropriateness of these principles are important to assess on a case-by-case basis, and depend in part on trade-offs between resilience and other dimensions of value chain performance. Third, we integrate two common tools, the Resilience Alliance’s assessment framework and value chain analysis techniques, to outline an adaptable participatory approach for assessing the resilience of agricultural value chains in developing countries. The objectives of the approach are to cultivate a chain-wide awareness for past and potential disturbances that could affect food security and other essential services provided by the value chain, and to identify upgrades that can build resilience against these key disturbances.

Land-Sparing Opportunities for Solar Energy Development in Agricultural Landscapes: A Case Study of the Great Central Valley, CA, United States

Land-cover change from energy development, including solar energy, presents trade-offs for land used for the production of food and the conservation of ecosystems. Solar energy plays a critical role in contributing to the alternative energy mix to mitigate climate change and meet policy milestones; however, the extent that solar energy development on nonconventional surfaces can mitigate land scarcity is understudied. Here, we evaluate the land sparing potential of solar energy development across four nonconventional land-cover types: the built environment, salt-affected land, contaminated land, and water reservoirs (as floatovoltaics), within the Great Central Valley (CV, CA), a globally significant agricultural region where land for food production, urban development, and conservation collide. Furthermore, we calculate the technical potential (TWh year^-1) of these land sparing sites and test the degree to which projected electricity needs for the state of California can be met therein. In total, the CV encompasses 15% of CA, 8415 km² of which was identified as potentially land-sparing for solar energy development. These areas comprise a capacity-based energy potential of at least 17 348 TWh year^-1 for photovoltaic (PV) and 2213 TWh year^-1 for concentrating solar power (CSP). Accounting for technology efficiencies, this exceeds California's 2025 projected electricity demands up to 13 and 2 times for PV and CSP, respectively. Our study underscores the potential of strategic renewable energy siting to mitigate environmental trade-offs typically coupled with energy sprawl in agricultural landscapes.

Effects of Cover Crops on Pratylenchus penetrans and the Nematode Community in Carrot Production

Cover cropping is a common practice in U.S. Midwest carrot production for soil conservation, and may affect soil ecology and plant-parasitic nematodes-to which carrots are very susceptible. This study assessed the impact of cover crops-oats (Avena sativa), radish (Raphanus sativus) cv. Defender, rape (Brassica napus) cv. Dwarf Essex, and a mixture of oats and radish-on plant-parasitic nematodes and soil ecology based on the nematode community in Michigan carrot production systems. Research was conducted at two field sites where cover crops were grown in Fall 2014 preceding Summer 2015 carrot production. At Site 1, root-lesion (Pratylenchus penetrans) and stunt (Tylenchorhynchus sp.) nematodes were present at low population densities (less than 25 nematodes/100 cm3 soil), but were not significantly affected (P > 0.05) by cover crops. At Site 2, P. penetrans population densities were increased (P ≤ 0.05) by 'Defender' radish compared to other cover crops or fallow control during cover crop growth and midseason carrot production. At both sites, there were few short-term impacts of cover cropping on soil ecology based on the nematode community. At Site 1, only at carrot harvest, radish-oats mixture and 'Dwarf Essex' rape alone enriched the soil food web based on the enrichment index (P ≤ 0.05) while rape and radish increased structure index values. At Site 2, bacterivore abundance was increased by oats or radish cover crops compared to control, but only during carrot production. In general, cover crops did not affect the nematode community until nearly a year after cover crop growth suggesting that changes in the soil community following cover cropping may be gradual.

Supplier development for sustainability: contextual barriers in global supply chains

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore contextual barriers to supplier development for sustainability (SDS) in global supply chains and managerial remedies to mitigate such barriers.

Design/methodology/approach

– A dyadic case study design was adopted with a Western European buyer and six of its Chinese suppliers. The database consists of 41 interviews and 81 documents.

Findings

– Contextual barriers to SDS in global supply chains derive from complexities in the sustainability concept, socio-economic differences, spatial and linguistic distance, as well as cultural differences between buyers and suppliers. Partial remedies include effective joint communications, an open organizational culture, and the fostering of cross-contextual understanding.

Research limitations/implications

– The findings contribute to theory development at the intersection of sustainable and global supply chain management research. They help to explain why scarce sustainability-related progress in global supply chains has occurred in recent years.

Practical implications

– The identified barriers facilitate managerial decision making that will expedite SDS progress in global contexts.

Social implications

– By diffusing knowledge regarding available remedies, the study contributes to improving SDS effectiveness, thereby fostering sustainability capabilities and performance of suppliers.

Originality/value

– This research highlights the criticality of contextual barriers to SDS. The barrier effects that stem from differing real-world conceptions of sustainability may inform future sustainable supply chain management research within and beyond SDS.