SUMMARYThe food arena, which is at the interface of different economic sectors, is characterised by the presence of numerous actors with often different and even competing agendas. This is exacerbated by the lack of a deep and common understanding of the issues at play and their interdependencies. The review paper aims at highlighting the multifaceted and multidimensional relations and linkages between food and nutrition security, diets and food systems in the context of sustainability. The paper addresses also other issues, which are relevant in sustainable food systems context, such as sustainable consumption and production, typical and traditional foods, and food losses and waste. Food security is built on four pillars: availability, access, use, and stability. It is strongly linked to nutrition security. Sustainable diets are environmentallyfriendly and contribute to food security and healthy life. The Mediterranean diet, which encompasses a plethora of traditional and typical foods, is considered by many scholars as an example of sustainable diet. Food systems should deliver food security and nutrition for present and future generations that is why all components of food systems should be sustainable, resilient and efficient. Moving towards more sustainable food systems implies also reducing food losses and waste along the food chain. Sustainability should be considered as a dimension of long-term food security. From such a perspective the concept of sustainable diets can play a key role. To address food and nutrition challenges, food systems have to be considered in their entirety, acknowledging the interdependency of consumption and production. These linkages are shown in the global Zero Hunger Challenge initiative and should be highlighted and further operationalized in global food-related strategies (e.g. 10 Year Framework of Programs on Sustainable Food Systems) as well as regional strategies such as the Sustainable Consumption and Production Action Plan for the Mediterranean.
Agriculture uses more than 80% of water resources in Morocco. The sector isinefficient in terms of water use due to the dominance of surface irrigation. Toaddress this issue, there have been efforts in Moroccan strategies to convert surfaceirrigation to localized one. This paper analyses the dynamics of conversion fromsurface irrigation to drip irrigation in Fez-Meknes region (north-eastern Morocco)through the lens of the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) on socio-technicaltransitions. MLP framework suggests that transitions are the results of dialecticinteractions among a niche (cf. novelty of drip irrigation), a regime (cf. traditionalsystem of surface irrigation) and the socio-technical landscape (e.g. policies). MLPwas complemented with a multi-capital approach to better assess transitionimpacts. Results show that the area equipped with drip irrigation in Fez-Meknesregion increased from 2174 ha in 2008 to 39290 ha in 2016. Different programshave been implemented in the framework of the Green Morocco Plan to fosterirrigation transition e.g. the National Irrigation Water Saving Program (PNEEI),launched in 2007, aims to convert 550,000 ha to localized irrigation (e.g. dripirrigation) in 15 years. Thanks to these programs, financial and technical supporthas been provided to farmers to promote the adoption of water-saving irrigationtechniques and practices. Farm-level results show that transition to localizedirrigation decreases irrigation water use, increases yields and profitability (cf. grossmargin per ha), and improves water productivity. Despite an enabling policylandscape and positive transition impacts, surface irrigation is still maintained inthe region and farmers are reluctant to change for many reasons (e.g. age andeducation level, unclear land tenure, financial and administrative difficulties).Efforts are still needed to train farmers on irrigation scheduling and on the use ofsmart irrigation techniques to save water. Further research is required to betterunderstand current bottlenecks in the irrigation transition process and designappropriate and context-specific transition governance strategies.
Typical and traditional products are becoming an important element of the agro-food panorama in Serbia. For keeping and, even, fostering this positive trend an effective strategy for the valorisation of these products is necessary. For that it is crucial to have a clear idea about the perception and attitude of consumers. The paper analyses the main factors that affect consumers' interest for purchasing Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) products in Serbia. A field survey -focusing on two PDOs namely Petrovac sausage and Futog cabbagewas performed in the period July-October 2012 with 251 Serbian consumers. The analysis showed that there are perspectives for PDO products in Serbia, as a large proportion of Serbian consumers are positively oriented towards products with designation of origin and would buy them. Interest for PDO products is connected and influenced by interest in typical products, awareness of PDO/Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) scheme, daily eating habits, education and income level. The main influence of these factors is identified for all sample, as well as for three different groups of consumers obtained by cluster analysis; "consumers with strong interest in PDO products" represents 28.7% of the sample, "consumers moderately interested in PDO products" stands at 41.8% of the sample while 29.5% of the interviewees belong to the third group "consumers poorly interested in PDO products". The fact that more than two thirds of respondents are either strongly or moderately interested in PDO products show that Petrovac sausage and Futog cabbage have good perspectives in the Serbian agro-food market.
In the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which encompasses the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), mainstreaming means the landing of the Agenda at the national and local levels and its integration into development plans and budgets. This review paper casts light on approaches adopted in the Mediterranean countries to incorporate the SDGs into their national development policies, plans and strategies. It draws upon a comprehensive analysis of the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) on the implementation of the SDGs submitted by Mediterranean countries from 2016 to 2019. Mediterranean countries have taken concrete measures to map existing policies against each of the SDG-targets in order to identify policy gaps and to mainstream the 2030 Agenda into their legal and policy frameworks. They used different policy instruments and planning frameworks to take up the 2030 Agenda such as national development plans and strategies (e.g. Albania, Algeria, Croatia, Montenegro, Italy, Slovenia, Turkey), vision documents (e.g. Egypt, Malta, Slovenia, Tunisia) and action plans (e.g. Algeria, France, Spain). A few Mediterranean countries (e.g. Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Lebanon and Morocco) did not adopt any integrated policy instrument and opted for the implementation of the SDGs through existing national policies and strategies. The harmonization of national development plans and strategies with the SDGs is a continuous process and needs to be implemented across sectors. The analysis of the VNRs shows that little attention was dedicated to address trade-offs through policy integration. The achievement of the SDGs implies new modes of policy making as well as a better cross-sectoral coordination and harmonisation of policies in Mediterranean countries. Sharing lessons learned and mutual policy learning among Mediterranean countries could help ensuring a step forward from the formal description of legislation in the VNRs.
Climate change is expected to have far-reaching impacts on food security. Such impacts are likely to be higher in developing countries. This paper analyses the state of research on the nexus between climate change and food security in Burkina Faso. In particular, it sheds light on whether and how the scholarly literature addresses the impacts of climate change on the four dimensions of food security (i.e. food availability, food access, food utilisation and stability). It also explores the synergies and trade-offs between climate change mitigation/adaptation and food security. A search performed in April 2020 on the Web of Science yielded 243 records and 62 of them, which resulted eligible, were included in the systematic review. The literature shows that climate change will affect all the four dimensions of food security. However, most of the analysed literature addresses its effects on food availability. Indeed, it focuses on impacts on crop yields and climate suitability for crops (e.g. maize, millet, sorghum). Moreover, most of the impacts on the remaining food security dimensions stem from the negative effects on food production and supply (cf. food availability). The review also shows that, on the one hand, climate change mitigation can undermine food security and, on the other hand, agriculture intensification and some adaptation strategies, which aim to enhance food security, might increase emissions from agriculture. The dual climate change-food security relationship calls for integrated policies that address trade-offs and optimise co-benefits between 'climate action' and 'zero hunger' in Burkina Faso.
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