This paper summarizes the main findings of the GLAMUR project which starts with an apparently simple question: is "local" more sustainable than "global"? Sustainability assessment is framed within a post-normal science perspective, advocating the integration of public deliberation and scientific research. The assessment spans 39 local, intermediate and global supply chain case studies across different commodities and countries. Assessment criteria cover environmental, economic, social, health and ethical sustainability dimensions. A closer view of the food system demonstrates a highly dynamic local-global continuum where actors, while adapting to a changing environment, establish multiple relations and animate several chain configurations. The evidence suggests caution when comparing "local" and "global" chains, especially when using the outcomes of the comparison in decision-making. Supply chains are analytical constructs that necessarily-and arbitrarily-are confined by system boundaries, isolating a set of elements from an interconnected whole. Even consolidated approaches, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), assess only a part of sustainability attributes, and the interpretation may be controversial. Many sustainability attributes are not yet measurable and "hard" methodologies need to be complemented by "soft" methodologies which are at least able to identify critical issues and trade-offs. Aware of these limitations, our research shows that comparing local and global chains, with the necessary caution, can help overcome a priori positions that so far have characterized the debate between "localists" and "globalists". At firm level, comparison between "local" and "global" chains could be useful to identify best practices, benchmarks, critical points, and errors to avoid. As sustainability is not a status to achieve, but a never-ending process, comparison and deliberation can be the basis of a "reflexive governance" of food chains.
Abstract:International agri-food trade has expanded rapidly during the past decades and changed considerably in structure with important implications, especially for developing economies. One of the main environmental concerns regarding international trade is the exploitation and redistribution of water resources. In this paper, we use the virtual water approach for analyzing the relationship between global agri-food trade, its structure and virtual water flows in the period of 1986-2011. Specifically, for five regions and the world, we calculate growth rates of interregional trade values and virtual water volumes, the contribution of different product groups to trade and the economic water efficiency of imports and exports. Our findings show that, over time, trade values have generally increased more rapidly than virtual water volumes. In Africa and Southern America, virtual water outflows have roughly quadrupled since 1986. In all regions, staples and industrial products account for the largest share in virtual water trade. The recent shift towards high-value exports is beneficial for low-income countries from a regional economic water efficiency perspective due to high trade values and low associated virtual water volumes. Economic water efficiency of trade has increased in all regions since 2000 and the return to virtual water outflows is especially high in Europe.
Trade in agricultural and food products has increased sharply since the 1980s, but links and trade-offs between socioeconomic benefits and environmental impacts of this trend have hardly been studied. The empirical analysis of this article focuses on the Ica province in Peru, where agricultural export production has led to huge economic growth and employment generation at the expense of unsustainable aquifer depletion. Building on the concept of ecosystem and societal metabolism (MuSIASEM), a model of the province including groundwater use, added value generation and employment creation is built. Absolute and relative differences between crop production for autoconsumption and national markets, and for export markets are assessed at different societal levels. Moreover, the impact of two land use scenarios aiming to reduce total groundwater extraction is explored. The analysis draws a picture of a system which is highly dependent on the use of natural resources. Export agriculture generates considerably more value added and employment while extracting more than five times more water from the aquifer than local crop production. The scenarios show that although being more efficient regarding intensive indicators, a reduction of groundwater use for export activities is indispensable to sustain environmentally sustainable agricultural production in the long run. Several policy measures aiming at mitigating groundwater depletion are discussed.
Abstract: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 we analyze the local Belgian and global Peruvian asparagus value chains and explore their sustainability performance. A range of indicators linked to environmental, economic and social impacts is calculated to analyze the contribution of the supply chains to economic development, resource use, labor relations, distribution of added value and governance issues. Our findings suggest that none of the two supply chains performs invariably better and that there are trade-offs among and between sustainability dimensions. Whereas the global chain uses water and other inputs more intensively and generates more employment per unit of land and higher yields, the local chain generates more revenue per unit of land.
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