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The food safety landscape continues to evolve across time, geography, and supply chains. This research seeks to analyze the determinants of market‐based food safety management systems (FSMSs) implementation in the Middle Eastern context. Primary data were collected from food safety managers representing 94 processors across Lebanon. We found food processors having implemented ISO 22000 (50%), HACCP (40%), and ISO 9001 (25.5%); however, none of the processors implemented industry‐based FSMSs. Although ISO 22000 was mostly implemented by large (85%) and medium (67%) processors, the uptake of ISO 22000 by small processors has picked up (29%). Economic incentives (market orientation) and firm‐specific factors (organizational readiness, product/process characteristics, company size, and ownership structure) are the key drivers for the increased implementation of market‐based FSMSs. Predominantly export‐oriented processors had the odds of implementing ISO 22000 5.5 times more than the domestically oriented processors. Firms with a quality assurance (QA) unit had 15 times higher chance of implementing ISO 22000 than otherwise. Finally, processors engaged in fresh produce had 4.9 times higher chance of implementing ISO 22000 than those engaged in dry goods. The study establishes that the dominance of public‐based FSMSs in the governance of food safety is a strategic choice (economic incentives) more than statutory requirements.

With increasing food insecurity and climate change, conservation agriculture has emerged as a sustainable alternative to intensive conventional agriculture as a source of food supply. Yet the adoption rate of conservation agriculture is still low. Our paper analyses the factors affecting farmers' willingness to adopt conservation agriculture in Lebanon. The findings show that household characteristics-years of farming and farm size affect conservation agriculture adoption. However, household characteristics alone were insufficient to explain conservation agriculture adoption. We found that farming experience, information sources, frequency of irrigation, and severity of weed infestation in the past, participation in specific trainings, and farmers' perception about the long-term impact of conservation agriculture, were key determinants of conservation agriculture adoption. Our paper encourages policymakers to invest in conservation agriculture to overcome food insecurity and environmental changes affecting food systems in the Middle East. The paper also informs agribusiness firms to view conservation agriculture as a viable alternative to strengthen their business relationship with farmers in arid and semi-arid regions.

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Irrigated agriculture has been popularized as a key factor to improve crop yields and enhance food security in Africa. However, empirical findings are mixed. This study analyzes determinants of small-scale irrigation adoption and the impact this may have on food security in Ethiopia, where agricultural land is extremely fragmented and densely populated. Data were collected from 240 farmers, and the findings from the survey were triangulated with focus group discussions and key informant interviews. First, the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke indices indicated high poverty levels among farmers without access to irrigation. Second, accounting for a self-selection bias by using the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model, scheme governance, perceived water scarcity, and access to information were found to have significant effects on the adoption of irrigation schemes. Model estimates further indicated that access to small-scale irrigation resulted in better living conditions for both current users and non-users when compared to their counterfactual situations. Farm income of the user households would decrease by 42% (birr 151,419 or US$ 5,500 per ha) had they not used irrigation. Similarly, farm income of the non-users would increase by 149% had they used irrigation. Per adult equivalent consumption expenditure has also shown a decrease of 35% for irrigation users and an increase of 40% for non-users compared to their respective counterfactual situations. We conclude that much of the perceived water scarcity level is attributed to existing governance regimes more than the physical scarcity of water. The study draws several implications for household food security and local-based water use policies.