Africa and Sustainable Global Value Chains

Africa and Sustainable Global Value Chains

Author: Regina Frei

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-03-11

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 3030787915

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This book contains a collection of studies on the interactions between businesses in Africa and Global Value Chains (GVCs) in terms of social, environmental and economic sustainability. This is particularly pertinent given the asymmetrical power distribution between the global buyer and the African supplier, their governance relationships and the ongoing competitive pressures to reduce costs and increase flexibility to meet GVC demands. Rather than focusing on the sustainability of a single organization, GVCs address the sustainability of inter-firm value chains and global industries as a whole. With little differentiation between value chain creation and social / environmental degradation extending to people and raw material extraction (upstream) and disposal or recycling (downstream), sustainability issues need to be at the forefront of African business research interests. Nowadays, sustainability is considered a competitive advantage for a firm looking to join a GVC. Whether sustainability is approached from the viewpoint of an exporting firm motivated to join a GVC in its respective industry or whether a firm’s continuing contractual or collaborative relationship with a buyer depends on its compliance with sustainability standards, both approaches focus on the ability of firms in Africa to benefit from joining sustainable GVCs.


Social Sustainability, Power and Agriculture Value Chains

Social Sustainability, Power and Agriculture Value Chains

Author: S. Annette Witherspoon

Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster

Published: 2022-12-28

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 3643914202

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This book addresses value chains and the closely related questions of sustainability, especially social sustainability, in the so called `sustainability turn' Smallholder vanilla producers in Madagascar, as a case, it places power relations at the center of production node analysis. Brilliantly navigating the complexities of such analysis. This ground-breaking work is accomplished through an elaborate qualitative-grounded-theory methodology. This book is useful for scholars looking to explore the links between value chains, social sustainability and feminist epistemologies.


Sustainable Food Supply Chains

Sustainable Food Supply Chains

Author: Riccardo Accorsi

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2019-06-12

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 0128134127

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Sustainable Food Supply Chains: Planning, Design, and Control through Interdisciplinary Methodologies provides integrated and practicable solutions that aid planners and entrepreneurs in the design and optimization of food production-distribution systems and operations and drives change toward sustainable food ecosystems. With synthesized coverage of the academic literature, this book integrates the quantitative models and tools that address each step of food supply chain operations to provide readers with easy access to support-decision quantitative and practicable methods. Broken into three parts, the book begins with an introduction and problem statement. The second part presents quantitative models and tools as an integrated framework for the food supply chain system and operations design. The book concludes with the presentation of case studies and applications focused on specific food chains. Sustainable Food Supply Chains: Planning, Design, and Control through Interdisciplinary Methodologies will be an indispensable resource for food scientists, practitioners and graduate students studying food systems and other related disciplines. - Contains quantitative models and tools that address the interconnected areas of the food supply chain - Synthesizes academic literature related to sustainable food supply chains - Deals with interdisciplinary fields of research (Industrial Systems Engineering, Food Science, Packaging Science, Decision Science, Logistics and Facility Management, Supply Chain Management, Agriculture and Land-use Planning) that dominate food supply chain systems and operations - Includes case studies and applications


Developing Sustainable Food Value Chains

Developing Sustainable Food Value Chains

Author: David Neven

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13:

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Using sustainable food value chain development (SFVCD) approaches to reduce poverty presents both great opportunities and daunting challenges. SFVCD requires a systems approach to identifying root problems, innovative thinking to find effective solutions and broad-based partnerships to implement programmes that have an impact at scale. In practice, however, a misunderstanding of its fundamental nature can easily result in value-chain projects having limited or non-sustainable impact. Furthermore, development practitioners around the world are learning valuable lessons from both failures and successes, but many of these are not well disseminated. This new set of handbooks aims to address these gaps by providing practical guidance on SFVCD to a target audience of policy-makers, project designers and field practitioners. This first handbook provides a solid conceptual foundation on which to build the subsequent handbooks. It (1) clearly defines the concept of a sustainable food value chain; (2) presents and discusses a development paradigm that integrates the multidimensional concepts of sustainability and value added; (3) presents, discusses and illustrates ten principles that underlie SFVCD; and (4) discusses the potential and limitations of using the value-chain concept in food-systems development. By doing so, the handbook makes a strong case for placing SFVCD at the heart of any strategy aimed at reducing poverty and hunger in the long run.


Business, Power and Sustainability in a World of Global Value Chains

Business, Power and Sustainability in a World of Global Value Chains

Author: Stefano Ponte

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.

Published: 2019-08-15

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 1786992604

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The interaction of sustainability governance and global value chains has crucial implications the world over. When it comes to sustainability the last decade has witnessed the birth of hybrid forms of governance where business, civil society and public actors interact at different levels, leading to a focus on concepts of legitimacy within multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs). Based in over 15 years of theoretical engagement and field research, Business, Power and Sustainability draws from both labour-intensive value chains, such as in the agro-food sector (coffee, wine, fish, biofuels, palm oil), and from capital-intensive value chains such as in shipping and aviation, to discuss how sustainability governance can be best designed, managed and institutionalized in today’s world of global value chains (GVCs). Examining current theoretical and analytical efforts aimed at including sustainability issues in GVC governance theory, it expands on recent work examining GVC upgrading by introducing the concept of environmental upgrading; and through new conceptions of orchestration, it provides suggestions for how governments and international organizations can best facilitate the achievement of sustainability goals. Essential reading on the governance of sustainability in the twenty-first century.


Land, Gender and Commons

Land, Gender and Commons

Author: Jill Philine Blau

Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster

Published:

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 3643914210

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This book explores how the concept of the commons can be extended through feminist intersectional perspectives. With extensive case studies on the commoning of pastoralists in Ethiopia and Germany, Jill Philine Blau investigates how social categories of difference û especially gender and age - have a structuring effect on the commons, as well as how the commons can be understood more deeply through a broader understanding of reproductivity and care.


Sustainable Agricultural Value Chain

Sustainable Agricultural Value Chain

Author: Habtamu Alem

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2022-11-23

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13: 1839697555

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The book discusses scientific, technical, and sociological aspects of sustainable agricultural value chains, focusing on coffee and tea production. The book advocates a value-chain strategy and highlights the importance of tracking the effects of climate change. Increasing the amount of value-added products via irrigation is critical to combating climate change and achieving sustainable development. Furthermore, blockchain technology has the potential to transform agricultural business models and supply chain networks.


Managing risks to build climate-smart and resilient agrifood value chains

Managing risks to build climate-smart and resilient agrifood value chains

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2022-05-13

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 9251356254

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This work provides a preliminary analysis of the key climate risks affecting agrifood value chains and opportunities for climate services that reach stakeholders involved in all stages of the value chain, from agrifood production to harvest, storage and refrigeration, processing and packaging, transportation, markets, trade and consumption. Climate services provide opportunities to effectively and comprehensively mainstream climate risk management across the entire agrifood value chain, in addition to increasing sustainability and efficiency in the face of changing climate conditions. This report provides significant primary information and recommendations on the development of climate services across the agrifood value chain with a view to systematically enhance sustainable and resilient opportunities. It also provides a basis for further research and investment funding in this area. Its findings could spark follow-up research and public and private investment.


Sustainability Challenges of Brazilian Agriculture

Sustainability Challenges of Brazilian Agriculture

Author: Niels Søndergaard

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-05-24

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 3031298535

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With contributions from a wide range of thematic areas, this book provides a diverse perspective on the contemporary environmental challenges of Brazilian agriculture. Assessing existing experiences of governance interventions, implementation of inclusive and sustainable production practices, as well as technical innovations, this edited volume presents the reader with a nuanced perspective on sustainable future pathways for Brazilian agriculture. In many cases, actors within the agricultural sector stand in a key position to address environmental concerns, which often has generated important breakthroughs and improvement of production practices. Drawing on contributions from authors within a variety of fields, this contribution presents a trans-disciplinary perspective on the problems and pathways through which multi-level interventions can lead to sustainable solutions within the Brazilian agricultural and livestock sector. This book hereby constitutes an informed and timely contribution to the important debates about Brazil’s potential role in confronting environmental problems. More broadly, this volume also sheds light on the process of agricultural transitions in the Global South, and how food security concerns may be reconciled with sustainable production.