Characterizing diversity of food systems in view of sustainability transitions. A review

Abstract

Dominant food systems are configured from the productivist paradigm, which focuses on producing large amounts of inexpensive and standardized foods. Although these food systems continue being supported worldwide, they are no longer considered fit-for-purpose as they have been proven unsustainable in environmental and social terms. A large body of scientific literature argues that a transition from the dominant food systems to alternative ones built around the wider principles of sustainable production and rural development is needed. Promoting such a sustainability transition would benefit from a diagnosis of food system types to identify those systems that may harbor promising characteristics for a transition to sustainable food systems. While research on food system transitions abounds, an operational approach to characterize the diversity of food systems taking a system perspective is still lacking. In this paper we review the literature on how transitions to sustainable food systems may play out and present a framework based on the Multi-Level Perspective on Socio-Technical Transitions, which builds upon conceptual developments from social and natural science disciplines. The objectives of the framework are to (i) characterize the diversity of existing food systems at a certain geographical scale based on a set of structural characteristics and (ii) classify the food systems in terms of their support by mainstream practices, i.e., dominant food systems connected to regimes; deviate radically from them, niche food systems such as those based on grassroots innovation; or share elements of dominant and niche food systems, i.e., hybrid food systems. An example is given of application of our framework to vegetable food systems with a focus on production, distribution, and consumption of low-or-no pesticide vegetables in Chile. Drawing on this illustrative example we reflect on usefulness, shortcomings, and further development and use of the diagnostic framework.

Drivers of decoupling and recoupling of crop and livestock systems at farm and territorial scales

“…We used a multilevel perspective (Geels 2011) to understand the prevalence and trajectory of different types of ICLS within countries, following Gaitán-Cremaschi et al (2019) who used it as a food system diagnostic and classification tool. This perspective focuses on three levels to explain how socio-technical transitions occur and how social, technological, and institutional aspects coevolve: (i) landscapes: the external factors influencing the whole agricultural system, such as socio-technical trends (e.g., globalization) or climate change (e.g., reductions or changes in the distribution of rainfall) that may put pressure on agricultural regimes and create windows of opportunity for niches (Wigboldus et al 2016), (ii) agricultural regimes: the dominant modes of production, sourcing, value accumulation, and consumption in agricultural supply chains, evolving product markets and market demands, the focus of the policy setting, and scientific and technological paradigms (McMichael 2005, Gaitán-Cremaschi et al 2019, and (iii) niches: networks in which novel systems are developed that propose an alternative to the current agricultural regime that may come both from deviant or change-oriented actors within the regime and from grassroots innovation movements (Tittonell et al 2016).…”

Exploring barriers to the agroecological transition in Nicaragua: A Technological Innovation Systems Approach

“…The TIS analysis allowed us to tease apart individual issues. By highlighting their inextricable linkages, it enabled us to untangle some of the thornier issues and supported other authors' arguments for the necessity of coupled innovations between agricultural technologies, institutions, and organizational structures (Gaitán-Cremaschi et al 2019;Khadse et al 2017;Meynard et al 2017).…”

“…This has led to great scholarly interest in processes of agroecological transition in Latin American countries, as evidenced by this journal's 2017 Special Edition (Gliessman 2017). The agroecological transition is a complex, multi-level process involving interactions and co-evolutionary alignments between the focal technologyagroecologyand associated bio-physical, social, political, economic, and institutional aspects (Blesh and Wolf 2014;Gaitán-Cremaschi et al 2019;Pant 2016;Piraux et al 2010). Hence, the agroecological transition may be described as the formation and development of a new agroecological innovation system within the dominant incumbent agricultural innovation system (based in conventional agriculture).…”

Transforming Research and Innovation for Sustainable Food Systems—A Coupled-Systems Perspective

“…Such an analytical gaze can help, for example, to better understand the dynamics of agri-food regimes (e.g., [43]) and multi-sectoral interactions between health care and agriculture in care farming (e.g., [44,45]). It might also help to understand the role of pioneers in the emergence of organic agricultural practices (e.g., [46]), and to conceptualize the structural properties of diversified production systems (e.g., [47]). Socio-ecological perspectives that can be used to understand the complexity of systemic dynamics are also considered an important approach in transformation research [42] and focus on a range of empirical topics, from grasping the dynamics of dietary behaviours (e.g., [48]) to managing small-scale fisheries (e.g., [49]).…”