Suchergebnisse

CONTEXT: Food systems worldwide are under enormous pressure. Over the past decades, local food systems have been promoted by governments and civil society organisations as a lever for change towards more inclusive, resilient and sustainable food systems based on the belief of their many purported benefits. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this article is to test eight common beliefs on local food systems – from a consumer, farmer, community and environmental perspective – against scientific evidence, with a focus on North America and Europe. METHODS: We conduct a systematic multi-disciplinary literature review and identify 123 peer-reviewed studies on local food systems. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We find that the impact of local food systems on different social, economic and environmental factors highly depends on the type of supply chain under assessment, with important differences across product types and countries. Hence, our review refutes the idea that local food is inherently good. In addition, we highlight the confusion surrounding the definition of a local food scale and point out a critical lack of cross-country comparable data hindering the possibility of drawing generalisable conclusions on the benefits and drawbacks of local food systems. SIGNIFICANCE: A comprehensive review of multi-disciplinary scientific evidence confirming (or refuting) claims on local food systems was missing, leading to possible counter-productive policies. Based on our findings, we suggest that policy-makers should invest in cross-country comparable data collection on local food systems (especially in Europe), which would allow the scientific community to perform robust causal analyses on their impacts on society.

CONTEXT: Food systems worldwide are under enormous pressure. Over the past decades, local food systems have been promoted by governments and civil society organisations as a lever for change towards more inclusive, resilient and sustainable food systems based on the belief of their many purported benefits. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this article is to test eight common beliefs on local food systems – from a consumer, farmer, community and environmental perspective – against scientific evidence, with a focus on North America and Europe. METHODS: We conduct a systematic multi-disciplinary literature review and identify 123 peer-reviewed studies on local food systems. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We find that the impact of local food systems on different social, economic and environmental factors highly depends on the type of supply chain under assessment, with important differences across product types and countries. Hence, our review refutes the idea that local food is inherently good. In addition, we highlight the confusion surrounding the definition of a local food scale and point out a critical lack of cross-country comparable data hindering the possibility of drawing generalisable conclusions on the benefits and drawbacks of local food systems. SIGNIFICANCE: A comprehensive review of multi-disciplinary scientific evidence confirming (or refuting) claims on local food systems was missing, leading to possible counter-productive policies. Based on our findings, we suggest that policy-makers should invest in cross-country comparable data collection on local food systems (especially in Europe), which would allow the scientific community to perform robust causal analyses on their impacts on society.

This article reviews the channels through which horticultural exports affect food security in developing countries. We describe the trends in horticultural export chains and investigate the macro- and micro-level effects on the different components of food security, including availability, access, utilization and stability. The available evidence suggests that horticultural exports contribute to food security in developing countries, particularly through the development of rural labor markets and female wage employment in companies. Important challenges remain; most notably the provision of secure employment at remunerative conditions and the sustainable use of water resources. Overcoming these challenges requires tighter national legislation but also private food standards may contribute. Empirical evidence that directly measures the impact of horticultural exports on food security and the underlying impact pathways is still completely missing and highly needed.

This article reviews the channels through which horticultural exports affect food security in developing countries. We describe the trends in horticultural export chains and investigate the macro- and micro-level effects on the different components of food security, including availability, access, utilization and stability. The available evidence suggests that horticultural exports contribute to food security in developing countries, particularly through the development of rural labor markets and female wage employment in companies. Important challenges remain; most notably the provision of secure employment at remunerative conditions and the sustainable use of water resources. Overcoming these challenges requires tighter national legislation but also private food standards may contribute. Empirical evidence that directly measures the impact of horticultural exports on food security and the underlying impact pathways is still completely missing and highly needed.

The rapid growth and transformation of global food value chains has stimulated the development of rural labour markets and has important consequences for rural poverty reduction. While this transformation can be associated with substantial rural employment creation, there is still debate on the inclusiveness and quality of these jobs. We provide quantitative evidence on the inclusiveness of wage employment in the horticultural sector in Senegal and on the quality of this employment and disparities among vulnerable groups of workers. Using survey data from 525 workers, 392 hired workers in agro-industrial companies and 133 workers on small-scale farms, we assess the inclusiveness of employment towards female, young and migrant workers, and compare the quality of employment between these different groups of workers. The quality of employment is assessed through wages and a decent work index that captures multiple wage and non-wage dimensions of job quality. We use bivariate and multivariate analyses to examine the quality of employment and a decomposition analysis to explain wage gaps. Results suggest that job quality is better in the agro-industry than on small-scale farms. We find that the agro-industry is inclusive towards migrant, female and young workers, but that disparities in job quality exist within and across companies. Results illustrate substantial gender wage gaps across companies, but not within companies, and a lower likelihood of having decent employment among migrant and young workers. Our results suggest that wage gaps can be explained by differences in job characteristics, and are not directly based on workers' gender, age or migrant background.

The rapid growth and transformation of global food value chains has stimulated the development of rural labour markets and has important consequences for rural poverty reduction. While this transformation can be associated with substantial rural employment creation, there is still debate on the inclusiveness and quality of these jobs. We provide quantitative evidence on the inclusiveness of wage employment in the horticultural sector in Senegal and on the quality of this employment and disparities among vulnerable groups of workers. Using survey data from 525 workers, 392 hired workers in agro-industrial companies and 133 workers on small-scale farms, we assess the inclusiveness of employment towards female, young and migrant workers, and compare the quality of employment between these different groups of workers. The quality of employment is assessed through wages and a decent work index that captures multiple wage and non-wage dimensions of job quality. We use bivariate and multivariate analyses to examine the quality of employment and a decomposition analysis to explain wage gaps. Results suggest that job quality is better in the agro-industry than on small-scale farms. We find that the agro-industry is inclusive towards migrant, female and young workers, but that disparities in job quality exist within and across companies. Results illustrate substantial gender wage gaps across companies, but not within companies, and a lower likelihood of having decent employment among migrant and young workers. Our results suggest that wage gaps can be explained by differences in job characteristics, and are not directly based on workers' gender, age or migrant background.

A substantial acceleration in improving nutrition is required to eradicate malnutrition by 2030. Income growth and increased labor productivity are key to realize this, but some income sources and employment sectors might be more effective in reducing malnutrition than others. We investigate the link between income and nutrition in rural Tanzania, using two rounds of the Tanzania National Panel Survey. We use both monetary and non-monetary measures of food consumption, and analyze besides caloric intake also the intake of important micronutrients, such as iron, zinc and vitamin A, and nutrient deficiencies. We compare income by employment sectors and by gender of the earner. We find that income growth is important for improving household nutrition, both in terms of food quantity and quality. We find that a higher share of income from agricultural self-employment as well as jointly earned income is strongly correlated with caloric and micronutrient intake across households. We do not find evidence to support the assertion that a higher share of income earned solely by women is associated with improved nutrition. Our results imply that closing the labor productivity gap between agriculture and rural non-farm sectors, and raising rural incomes from within agriculture, is a more effective strategy to improve nutrition in rural Tanzania than diversifying income away from agriculture.

A substantial acceleration in improving nutrition is required to eradicate malnutrition by 2030. Income growth and increased labor productivity are key to realize this, but some income sources and employment sectors might be more effective in reducing malnutrition than others. We investigate the link between income and nutrition in rural Tanzania, using two rounds of the Tanzania National Panel Survey. We use both monetary and non-monetary measures of food consumption, and analyze besides caloric intake also the intake of important micronutrients, such as iron, zinc and vitamin A, and nutrient deficiencies. We compare income by employment sectors and by gender of the earner. We find that income growth is important for improving household nutrition, both in terms of food quantity and quality. We find that a higher share of income from agricultural self-employment as well as jointly earned income is strongly correlated with caloric and micronutrient intake across households. We do not find evidence to support the assertion that a higher share of income earned solely by women is associated with improved nutrition. Our results imply that closing the labor productivity gap between agriculture and rural non-farm sectors, and raising rural incomes from within agriculture, is a more effective strategy to improve nutrition in rural Tanzania than diversifying income away from agriculture.