Challenges and Solutions for Greater Sustainability in Agri-Food Transport and Logistics Systems

Dear colleague,

The awareness about the undeniable negative impacts caused by anthropic activities is a diffused concern globally. Acting through mitigation actions includes the necessity to act at different levels, from the political to the economic one, from the individual to the collective one (COM, 218/773). The concept of sustainability, in its three facets, should then become mainstream in all countries’ legislations, ensuring a reliable commitment able to contribute to contrast to the ecological crisis we are experiencing (EU, Regulation 2019/631). To this end, several efforts have been made at both a global and single nation level, but enough has not yet been done. However, when talking about sustainability, a particular attention should be paid to the agricultural and food industry, not only in terms of the impact of production methods, where remarkable progress has been made in the last decades (Eichler Inwood et al., 2018), but also by referring to the logistic and transport systems used to reach the end markets. Today, this is also becoming a matter of meeting the expectations of consumers, agri-food firms, and transport operators. Consumers are calling for food product quality and economic convenience, which are also compliant with sustainability features (Peano et al., 2019); while the firms and operators, look for economic profit and sustainable transformation of their current systems to meet market demand (namely, customer expectations) (Sodano, 2019; Giacomarra et al., 2019a). However, the motivations behind the call for an in-depth study on this topic are also related to a current study of in-field provisional data collected during an active InterregMed project, titled EnerNETMob, and where a feasibility study oriented towards the introduction of the e-mobility in a local short food supply chain is being implemented. In this context, a need to go in-depth with, at first, the urban and rural food logistics, emerged, showing that the current lack of tested forecasting models, as well as empirical data, is causing a slowdown in the development of appropriate policies and the related updating of corporate strategies (Giacomarra et al., 2019b). The more recently diffused Lyfe Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, which represents the base for any actual carbon and water footprint quantification, also in the agri-food sector (Glensor & Muñoz, 2019; Bermeo et al., 2018), needs the availability of data about this chain step – logistic and distribution – which causes a higher percentage of CO₂ emissions. Data and knowledge gathering, in the medium/long period, are necessary to support and strengthen carbon footprint projects that are in demand worldwide and need to be diffused among the most sensitive companies, particularly in the food sector, which is most often the subject of consumer scrutiny.

The present Special Issue will gather works that focus on collecting empirical data on innovative and sustainable transport modes and logistics systems adopted, worldwide, in the agri-food industry.

Works should focus both on consumer opinions about sustainable transport systems of foodstuffs fuelled with alternative carbon sources and on the farmer level to test the intention of firm managers to invest in alternative transport systems. Public policies, considered as the flywheel of concrete and huge infrastructural investments, could also be presented and discussed, particularly if the agri-food transport system is concerned with improving the sustainability of the sector. Finally, we welcome works that analyze urban scenarios but also rural ones, as we are aware that each one of these areas presents specific infrastructural, political, economic, and cultural peculiarities that must be taken into account in any modeling effort.

References

Bermeo, J. F., Rodríguez, V. M., & Alvarez, M. J. (2018). Carbon footprint in corporate logistics operations in the food sector. Environmental Quality Management, 27(3), 135-146.

COM (2018/773), Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Investment Bank. A Clean Planet for all A European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy. Brussels, 28.11.2018 COM(2018) 773 final.

Eichler Inwood, S. E., López-Ridaura, S., Kline, K. L., Gérard, B., Monsalue, A. G., Govaerts, B., & Dale, V. H. (2018). Assessing sustainability in agricultural landscapes: a review of approaches1, 2. Environmental Reviews, 26(3), 299-315.

EU Regulation, 2019/631 of the EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 17 April 2019 setting CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and for new light commercial vehicles, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 443/2009 and (EU) No 510/2011.

Giacomarra, M., Tulone, A., Crescimanno, M., & Galati, A. (2019a). Electric mobility in the Sicilian short food supply chain. Studies in Agricultural Economics, 121(1316-2019-3225), 84-93.

Giacomarra, M., Crescimanno, M., Sakka, G. and Galati, A. (2019b), "Stakeholder engagement toward value co-creation in the F&B packaging industry", EuroMed Journal of Business, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/EMJB-06-2019-0077.

Glensor, K. and Muñoz B. M. R. (2019). Life-Cycle Assessment of Brazilian Transport Biofuel and Electrification Pathways. Sustainability 2019, 11, 6332; doi:10.3390/su11226332.

Peano, C., Merlino, V. M., Sottile, F., Borra D. and Massaglia S. (2019). Sustainability for Food Consumers: Which Perception? Sustainability 2019, 11(21), 5955; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11215955

Sodano, V. (2019). Innovation Trajectories and Sustainability in the Food System. Sustainability 2019, 11(5), 1271; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051271 - 28 Feb 2019.

Dr. Antonino Galati
Prof. Maria Crescimanno
Dr. Marcella GIACOMARRA
Guest Editors

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• Agri-Food Industry Sustainability Sustainable Transport Modes and Logistics Systems