How to engage informal midstream agribusiness in enhancing food system outcomes : what we know and what we need to know better

Mekonnen, Daniel Ayalew; Termeer, Emma; Soma, Katrine; Berkum, S. van; Piters, Bart de Steenhuijsen

doi:10.18174/567791

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Following a food system approach, when the foodshed scenarios demonstrate theoretical opportunities, the practicalities of implementation must still be carried out, such as setting up logistics for value-chains, governmental support, stable finance regimes, peace-making and climate adaptation strategies, as well as protection of human and social values, and improvements of rural livelihoods, where dignity, equity, inclusion and justice are integral parts of sustainable food systems, trade and employment [44]. Moreover, trust-building and resonance are critically important factors to be addressed when taking the next steps of building a fair food system transition pathways [34,35,45].…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, this is a contribution to gather knowledge about potential size of area needed for the main consumed crops to sustain the increasing populations in large cities in future [34,35]. Thus, two scenarios for each of the three countries are analysed: (1) projections of potential sizes of areas needed around the cities in 2020 to supply products mostly demanded in each of these cities and (2) projections of the extended sizes of area needed in 2050, taking into account core socio-economic drivers such as the migration into cities, population growth and land available around the cities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Can Domestic Food Production Provide Future Urban Populations with Food and Nutrition Security?—Insights from Bangladesh, Kenya and Uganda

2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Population growth and urbanization increasingly put pressure on our planet’s availability of areas needed for food production. The dependencies on domestically produced food are increasingly judged favourable, following the consequences of the Ukrainian war, with escalating fuel and grain prices and less accessibilities to low-income groups. It is, however, unclear whether land is domestically available. Applying a food system approach, the main aim of this article is to investigate spatial foodsheds and theoretical self-sufficiency for food production needed to supply increasing future populations in a selection of cities, including estimates for Dhaka in Bangladesh, Nairobi in Kenya and Kampala in Uganda. The projected foodshed scenario areas for the years 2020 and 2050 are estimated for the production of three core products currently extensively produced and consumed in the three countries. They show that it is not possible to feed an ever-increasing urban population based on domestic production alone. International trade, new technological developments and new consumer demands for less area-intensive food production systems may give solutions to the immense challenge of feeding the world’s population with nutritious food in 2050. However, to ensure fair and inclusive transition pathways for low-income groups: (1) affordability and accessibility of trade opportunities, technologies and products, (2) a common vision aiming for the SDGs, including SDG2: Zero hunger and SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities as well as (3) best practices in co-creation and cooperation with the most vulnerable urban and rural populations, are highly needed.

show abstract

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Domestic Food Production Provide Future Urban Populations with Food and Nutrition Security?—Insights from Bangladesh, Kenya and Uganda

2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In Sub-Saharan Africa, 86% of all employment consists of an informal workforce [52]. Based on the literature, informal settlements consist of informal businesses, and informal workers, for which the informal businesses can be defined along three criteria [53,54]: (1) legal informality referring to not officially being registered, (2) fiscal informality referring to non-payment of taxes, an operational bank account and maintenance of bookkeeping, and (3) labor informality referring to lacking contracts and benefits for employees. The informal workforce is employed by the informal businesses.…”

Section: Discussing Differences In Livelihood Welfare Factors Across ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The explanatory factors of the role of the informal businesses in the economy have been distinguished by the following factors in the literature [53,54]: (1) Exclusion, when businesses are excluded from state benefits due to high entry costs, (2) Exit (escape), when businesses voluntarily choose to operate informally after assessing the costs and benefits of formalization, (3) Dualism, when businesses are forced to operate informally due to the lack of an established formal sector, and (4) Structuralism, when businesses provide low-cost inputs and flexibility to the formal sector. For the Kibera case, the structuralism judgement is highly valid, given the duality in the Kenyan economy, with affordable and accessible food products made available by the informal economy to millions of the inhabitants in Kenya.…”

Section: Discussing Differences In Livelihood Welfare Factors Across ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Systems in Informal Urban Settlements—Exploring Differences in Livelihood Welfare Factors across Kibera, Nairobi

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The number and sizes of informal settlements are expected to increase drastically in the future, and dramatically so in Sub-Saharan Africa, where migration from rural to urban areas is increasing, and poverty and food insecurity threaten livelihoods. Data sources explaining livelihood factors in informal settlements are scarce, and often highly disputed. In this study, Kibera is investigated, one of the largest informal settlements in Africa. The main aim is to analyze differences in livelihood factors across the villages in Kibera, and to explain some of the existing discrepancies in food security levels among its population. In particular, livelihood factors such as tribe, welfare and trust can explain some of the variation in food security across 12 of the 13 villages located in Kibera. The analyses inform of significant differences across the villages when it comes to, among others, income, food insecurity, ownership of land in rural areas, tribal background and trust levels in strangers and community leads. To reach the millions of people living in informal settlements now, and increasingly so in the future, it is advised that research and implementation go hand in hand, with enhanced understanding of the complexities within rural–urban food systems to ensure solutions that are affordable and accessible to low-income groups. On this pathway to fight poverty and hunger in the future, today’s policies and programs must take such complexities into account to positively contribute to strengthening the resiliency and sustainability of rural–urban food systems by ensuring an increase in welfare levels with zero climate impact.

show abstract

“…SMEs have the potential to: (1) produce differentiated products that are highly local and traditional; (2) adapt to high transaction costs; and (3) innovate and offer complementary services to stay competitive (Reardon et al, 2019b). SMEs play a crucial role in food value chains (Mekonnen et al, 2022; UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, 2021). About 65% of food consumed in Africa and South Asia is aggregated, processed, transported, wholesaled, and retailed by SMEs (Reardon et al, 2021).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Does increasing the availability of a nutritious food produced by a small‐ and medium‐sized enterprise increase its consumption? Evidence from a field experiment in Kenya

Maredia,

Porter,

Nakasone

et al. 2023

Applied Eco Perspectives Pol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many development programs rely on the idea that increasing profitability of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) could increase availability of nutritious foods among low‐income consumers. We designed a randomized controlled trial in which we made a specific nutritious product produced by an SME exhaustively available in low‐income local markets. We find that compared to control markets, consumers in treated markets purchased and consumed more of this product and less of competing brands with added sugar and fat. However, overall consumption for the product category was not increased and there was no change in the consumption of other related but potentially less nutritious foods. Our findings suggest the need for alternative policies to increase consumption of nutritious foods.

show abstract

How to engage informal midstream agribusiness in enhancing food system outcomes : what we know and what we need to know better

Abstract: This study has been carried out by Wageningen Economic Research and has been commissioned and financed by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality within the context of the Food Security and Valuing Water research program (project code KB-35-008-018

Cited by 3 publications

References 37 publications

Can Domestic Food Production Provide Future Urban Populations with Food and Nutrition Security?—Insights from Bangladesh, Kenya and Uganda

Can Domestic Food Production Provide Future Urban Populations with Food and Nutrition Security?—Insights from Bangladesh, Kenya and Uganda

Food Systems in Informal Urban Settlements—Exploring Differences in Livelihood Welfare Factors across Kibera, Nairobi

Does increasing the availability of a nutritious food produced by a small‐ and medium‐sized enterprise increase its consumption? Evidence from a field experiment in Kenya

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About