Sustainable Food Supply Chain Research

Dear Colleagues,

A salient rationale toward advocating for a sustainable food supply chain is to enable stakeholders to configure, promote, and maintain food supply systems that deliver value in terms of profit and the wellbeing of people [1] and the planet [2]. Despite efforts to ensure a more efficient food production and distribution globally, achieving sustainable food supply chains remains a constant global challenge [3] that has received research attention in various disciplines, including organizational theory scholarship. The resource-based view, institutional and transactional cost theory, dynamic capabilities theory, and stakeholder theory are all examples of the dominant organizational theories that have been pursued in the sustainable food supply chain domain [4,5]. Whereas Govindan (2018) [4] provided indicators, drivers, and barriers based on the stakeholder theory toward the attainment of a sustainable food supply chain, Dong et al. (2014) [6] highlighted the persistent social and environmental challenges of the food supply chain and outlined the essence of stakeholder collaboration outside organizational boundaries to develop a sustainable food supply chain. Beyond these dominant organizational theories, other strands of sustainable food supply chain research have also engaged and interrogated the resource-based view [7] systems theory for modeling sustainable food systems [2], actor network theory, co-creation, and collaboration on platforms for collaboration and co-creation [8]; justice and fairness theory for food retailer–supplier relationships [9,1]; and the attitude–behavior gap on sustainable food consumption [10], among others.

The extant scholarship on the sustainable food supply chain has evolved in different directions as a response to difference food industry dynamics. However, a consistent catalyst to such an evolution has been environmental variability and shock events that manifest as extreme climatic changes and natural hazards [11] that are felt to different degrees in various geographical areas. The effects of environmental variability on food supply chains can be experienced at the local, regional, national, and global scales, but the supply chain disruptions due to the current COVID-19 pandemic cut across global and local food supply chains, and recovery strategies are being explored [12]. Seeking to understand the dynamic ramifications of the pandemic to sustainable food supply chains to improve resilience is a laudable objective for this call for papers. Indeed, scholars have made urgent calls for a more nuanced understanding of the extent of disruption to food supply chains actors’ businesses and livelihoods to help to ameliorate food and nutrition security risks and build resilience [13,14]. Additionally, of special interest to this call for papers is the need to map the state of the art of sustainable food supply chain research pre- and during the pandemic as an essential benchmark to enable sustainable food research academics and practitioners to gauge the trajectory of sustainable food supply chain research post-COVID-19. It is envisaged that this Special Issue will provide a systematic view of current research on the sustainable food supply chain to serve as a useful seminar reference for future research post-COVID-19.

Against the above background, this Special Issue calls for empirical and conceptual papers that explore issues around the sustainable food supply chain. Specifically, this Special Issue welcomes papers on the following or any other relevant research themes:

• Challenges and opportunities in sustainable food supply chains;
• Food supply chain resilience during pandemics;
• Agility and sustainable food supply chain;
• Governance in sustainable food supply chain;
• Stakeholder collaboration in sustainable food supply chain;
• Food supply chain justice and fairness;
• Incentives/drivers/enablers and inhibitors to sustainable food supply chain adoption;
• Technology and sustainable food supply chain;
• Operations management in sustainable food supply chains;
• Life cycle assessment and sustainable food supply chains;
• Green packaging in sustainable food supply chains;
• Quality and safety in sustainable food supply chains;
• Sustainable food supply chain policy and strategy;
• Responsible sourcing in sustainable food supply chains;
• Sustainable food supply chains and the sustainable development goals (SDGs);
• Food waste and circularity in sustainable food supply chains.

Reference:

1. Fearne, A., Yawson, D., Buxton, A. & Tait, J. (2012) Measuring fairness in supply chain trading relationships: A methodology guide, International Institute of Environment and Development, London, UK.  (IIED code:16042IIED) ISBN 978-1-84369-876-0
2. Allen, T., & Prosperi, P. (2016) Modeling Sustainable Food Systems. Environmental Management 57, 956–975 .DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0664-8
3. Yawson, D.E.& Yamoah, F.A. (2013) “African Exports Supply Chain Agility: A Case of the Ghanaian International Pineapple Export Supply Chain”, International Academy of African Business and Development (IAABD) Conference Proceedings, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Accra, Ghana, May 14-18,2013.
4. Govindan, K. (2018). Sustainable consumption and production in the food supply chain: A conceptual framework. International Journal of Production Economics, 195, 419-431.
5. Touboulic, A., & Walker, H. (2015). Theories in sustainable supply chain management: a structured literature review. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 45, 16-42.
6. Dong Li, Xiaojun Wang, Hing Kai Chan, Riccardo Manzini, (2014) Sustainable food supply chain management, International Journal of Production Economics, 152, pp. 1-8.
7. Pullman, M. E., Maloni, M. J., & Carter, C. R. (2009). Food for thought: social versus environmental sustainability practices and performance outcomes. Journal of supply chain management, 45(4), 38-54.
8. Scandelius, C., & Cohen, G. (2016). Sustainability program brands: Platforms for collaboration and co-creation. Industrial Marketing Management, 57, 166-176.
9. Duffy, R., Fearne, A., Hornibrook, S., Hutchinson, K., & Reid, A. (2013). Engaging suppliers in CRM: The role of justice in buyer–supplier relationships. International Journal of Information Management, 33(1), 20-27.
10. Yamoah, F. A., & Acquaye, A. (2019). Unravelling the attitude-behaviour gap paradox for sustainable food consumption: Insight from the UK apple market. Journal of cleaner production, 217, 172-184.
11. Davis, K. F., Downs, S., & Gephart, J. A. (2021). Towards food supply chain resilience to environmental shocks. Nature Food, 2(1), 54-65.
12. Barman, A., Das, R., & De, P. K. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 in food supply chain: Disruptions and recovery strategy. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences, 2, 100017.
13. Reardon, T., Bellemare, M. F. & Zilberman, D. (2020) How COVID-19 may disrupt food supply chains in developing countries. IFPRI Blog https://www.ifpri. org/blog/how-covid-19-may-disrupt-food-supply-chains-developing-countries (2020).
14. Challinor, A., Dinesh, D., Läderach, P. & Van Epp, M. (2020) How we can use the COVID-19 disruption to improve food systems and address the climate emergency. CGIAR Blog https://ccafs.cgiar.org/blog/how-we-can-use-covid-19-disruption-improve-food-systems-and-address-climate-emergency#. Xp5iUpl7lPY (2020).

Dr. Fred Amofa Yamoah
Dr. David Eshun Yawson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• resilience
• sustainable supply chain governance
• sustainable supply chain policy and strategy
• sustainable food supply chains
• green food supply chains
• quality and safety in sustainable supply chains
• technology in sustainable food supply chains
• operations management in sustainable food supply chains