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IntroductionIn this article we explore the practice of sustainable home cooking from a philosophical perspective.MethodologyWe analyze the practice of sustainble homecooking on the basis of the theory of modal aspects (Dooyeweerd) and the Triple I model (Verkerk and others).Results and discussionPhilosophy offers a fascinating perspective on sustainable home cooking. First, it shows the richtness of the phenomenon of home cooking. Second, it shows that home cooking constists out of two sub practices: preparing a meal and eating a dish. Each of these sub practices has an own identity and own inherent values. Third, the transition to sustainable home cooking requires three related strategies. (1) A transition of present home cooking practices to a sustainable practice by focussing on the inherent values of sustainable home cooking. (2) A transition of the whole food chain to a sustainable one. (3) A transition in the ideals and basic beliefs of society about sustainable home cooking.

AbstractThe Green Revolution is often seen as epitomising the dawn of scientific and technological advancement and modernity in the agricultural sector across developing countries, a process that unfolded from the 1940s through to the 1980s. Despite the time that has elapsed, this episode of the past continues to resonate today, and still shapes the institutions and practices of agricultural science and technology. In Brazil, China, and India, narratives of science-led agricultural transformations portray that period in glorifying terms—entailing pressing national imperatives, unprecedented achievements, and heroic individuals or organizations. These “epic narratives” draw on the past to produce meaning and empower the actors that deploy them. Epic narratives are reproduced over time and perpetuate a conviction about the heroic power of science and technology in agricultural development. By crafting history and cultivating a sense of scientific nationalism, exceptionalism, and heritage, these epic narratives sustain power-knowledge relations in agricultural science and technology, which are underpinned by a hegemonic modernization paradigm. Unravelling the processes of assemblage and reproduction of epic narratives helps us make sense of how science and technology actors draw on their subjective representations of the past to assert their position in the field at present. This includes making claims about their credentials to envision and deliver sustainable solutions for agriculture into the future.

The food supply chain (FSC), being a complex network, faces major issues such as traceability, food security, safety and sustainability. Blockchain technology (BLCT) is regarded as an innovative technology that can transform FSC by means of its traceable, irrevocable, tamperproof network. BLCT being a new technology, little work has been carried out on the FSC domain. The purpose of the study is to examine the most recent trends, benefits, challenges, and application of BLCT in the FSC and explore the comprehensive adoption and application of BLCT, stating how it helps to achieve a triple bottom line (TBL) and net zero in the supply chain. The methodology used in this article is a systematic literature review (SLR) comprising 55 papers spanning the years 2018 to 2022. The findings of the study state that BLCT helps to achieve food safety, security, and traceability and increases the performance of the FSC. It also contributes to achieving the TBL of sustainability which can further help to achieve net zero. Based on this work’s insight and observations, practitioners and academics can better understand how companies can implement BLCT and achieve TBL benefits in the FSC, which could eventually provide a path to achieving net zero.

Abstract. Turkana, in northwest Kenya, is the country's poorest and least developed county. Pastoralism in Turkana is well adapted to the harsh climatic conditions but an increase in drought frequency associated with global climate change and intensifying violent conflicts between pastoral groups, poses significant challenges for local communities. The conflicts are especially violent in the border region between the Turkana and the Pokot communities. In this very region significant oil reserves have been found recently. The first aim of this paper is to analyse how the oil exploration affects the communities' vulnerability to climate change. Secondly, the paper explores the risk of the oil explorations to create new conflicts or aggravate existing ones. The primary method of the study is qualitative field research supplemented with a geo-spatial analysis of conflict data. The field research was conducted in October 2013 and April 2014 in three villages with different levels of engagement with the oil exploration. At the time of the research, oil exploration was expected close to Lokwamosing while it had recently started in the vicinity of Lopii and had been ongoing for a longer time close to Nakukulas. The findings suggest that the oil exploration increases the community's vulnerability to climate change. Further, unmet community expectations for water, employment and development pose a significant risk for violent conflict between local communities and the operating oil company. Intercommunal conflict over water and land could increase as well.

Dairy is a key investment sector for the Government of Malawi. On 1 October 2016, the Malawi Revenue Authority announced that milk, which until then had been exempted from value added tax (VAT), was going to be taxed at the standard rate of 16.5 percent. The measure has been met with strong opposition and thus, was short lived (eliminated in May 2017). The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the effect that such a tax would have on its incidence, on the different stages of the supply chain, and ultimately on its economic and social sustainability. The paper investigates these implications by developing a multimarket model applied to the Malawian dairy supply chain. The results indicate that 24.3 percent of the VAT revenues would be borne by consumers and the remaining 75.7 percent would be borne by the domestic dairy industry (i.e., processors and smallholder farmers). This was due mainly to the value of the price elasticity of consumers’ demand for pasteurised milk. The results highlight the vulnerability of inclusive value chains to economic policies that may affect consumers’ demand.

This research focuses on determining the drivers and factors that influence conversion to organic rice farming to better inform local and national policies. It provides an insight into the procedures in the decision-making process of farmers and the practices they use. Questionnaire and interview data from farmers in the leading rice production region, Surin, were analyzed using logistic regression to understand the drivers of organic rice farming and the barriers and challenges of adapting to this practice. The findings highlight the critical role of extension farm officers in promoting, educating, and motivating farmers to adopt organic farming. The ability to access (affordable) loans through local cooperative and land ownership was also a key motivational factor. Young people (under 25) are not engaging with farming generally, and this is a major barrier to long-term growth of the organic rice industry in Thailand.

Improving the quality of agricultural products is the key factor in promoting agricultural development in the Belt and Road program. Although many studies have investigated the relationship between social capital and performance, the findings are inconsistent. Moreover, the mechanism of how social capital affects the quality performance of agricultural products remains unclear. Accordingly, this study developed a theoretical model with propositions from a social capital-quality performance of agricultural products paradigm for examining and comparing the three dimensions of social capital: The relationships among cognitive (measured by shared values), relational (measured by reciprocity) and structural (measured by communication), and their role in ensuring quality performance of agricultural products from the company and farmer perspectives. This study selected the companies and farmers in “A company + farmers” model. The data analysis is based on a sample of 184 companies and 414 farmers. The results show that shared values and communication have a significant positive effect on reciprocity. In terms of the influence on reciprocity, communication is higher than shared values from both the corporate and farmer perspectives. The three dimensions of social capital have different effects on quality performance of agricultural products. On the company side, communication and reciprocity in social capital have a significant positive effect on the quality performance of agricultural products, with the order of effect being communication first followed by reciprocity. On the farmer side, reciprocity and shared values have a significant positive effect on the quality performance of agricultural products, with the order of effect being reciprocity first followed by shared values. These findings have positive theoretical and practical significance for companies and farmers aiming to improve the quality of agricultural products.

Abstract Escalating global food security concerns across several nations has shifted the focus of policy makers towards risk adaptive sustainable food grain operations. This paper builds a sustainable food grain transportation model for intermodal transportation operations between two Indian states, in the presence of hub disruption. A hub and spoke system is used to connect origin and destination warehouses through intermodal hubs in a multi-layered network. The problem is formulated as a multi-period mixed integer nonlinear single objective optimization problem considering minimization of transportation, hub location, rerouting, environmental and social costs with near optimal shipment quantities and hub allocations as the prime decisions. The proposed MINLP is solved using Particle Swarm Optimization with Differential Evolution (PSODE), a superior metaheuristic to deal with NP-hard problems. Convergence graphs and global optimal costs are reported for small, medium and large size instances consisting of 1824, 9768 and 28848 variables respectively, inspired from food grain industry in the southern part of India. Pareto plots are generated to capture the complementarity between economical and socio-environmental cost categories for all instances. The effect of hub location, hub disruption, cost consolidation and vehicle resource availability factors on individual and total costs is studied through sensitivity analysis. Results indicate that food grain demand is fulfilled with 14% increase in the mean total cost for single hub disruption case and with 40% increase for multiple hub disruption. Finally, managerial implications provide specific factor level recommendations for different strategic objectives.