How resilience innovations in food supply chains are revolutionizing logistics, wholesale trade, and farm services in developing countries
In: International Food and Agribusiness Management ReviewNon-resident Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 1201 Eye Street, Washington, DC 20005, USA.
Search for other papers by Thomas Reardon in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Rob Vos in
Current site
Google Scholar
Developing country food supply chains have been pummeled by a series (and often a confluence) of shocks over the past several decades, including the Russia-Ukraine war, COVID-19, climate shocks from hurricanes to floods to droughts, animal and plant diseases, an intensification of road banditry and local conflicts, and overlaying all these, deep transformation in markets themselves with new requirements for quality and food safety. Yet supply chains have been largely resilient, adapting and bouncing back in surprising ways. We show that this has often involves deep ‘pivoting’ by one segment or one value chain, and ‘co-pivoting’ by another to facilitate the former’s pivot. We present a conceptual framework and then illustrate with a variety of examples from Africa and Asia, such as pivoting toward e-commerce by Asian retailers and co-pivoting by delivery intermediaries; pivoting toward quality horticultural production by African and Asian farmers and co-pivoting by mobile outsource services for farming and marketing; and building of redundant ports to protect rice milling operations from climate shocks in Asia by agribusiness and logistic firms. The paper provides implications for policy to facilitate these adaptions and for resilience strategies of agribusiness firms.
-
Belton, B., L. Rosen, L. Middleton, S. Ghazali, A-A. Mamun, J. Shieh, H.S. Noronha, G. Dhar, M. Ilyas, C. Price, A. Nasr-Allah, I. Elsira, B.K. Baliarsingh, A. Padiyar, S. Rajendran, A.B.C. Mohan, R. Babu, M.J. Akester, E.E. Phyo, K.M. Soe, A. Olaniyi, S.N. Siriwardena, J. Bostock, D.C. Little, M. Phillips and S.H. Thilsted. 2021. COVID-19 impacts and adaptations in Asia and Africa’s aquatic food value chains. Marine Policy 129: 104523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104523
-
Fresh Plaza. 2022. No relief for China’s overstretched supply chains. 26 January 2022. https://www.freshplaza.com/north-america/article/9394268/no-relief-for-china-s-overstretched-supply-chains/
-
Hirvonen, K., B. Minten, B. Mohammed and S. Tamru. 2021. Food prices and marketing margins during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from vegetable value chains in Ethiopia. Agricultural Economics 52: 407-421. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12626
-
Just, R.E. and D. Zilberman. 1983. Stochastic structure, farm size and technology adoption in developing agriculture. Oxford Economic Papers 35: 307-328.
'Stochastic structure, farm size and technology adoption in developing agriculture ' () 35 Oxford Economic Papers : 307 -328.
-
Laborde, D., W. Martin, J. Swinnen and R. Vos. 2020. COVID-19 risks to global food security. Science 369: 500-502.
'COVID-19 risks to global food security ' () 369 Science : 500 -502.
-
Liverpool-Tasie, L.S.O., B. Belton, O. Tasie, W. Osawe, C. Parkhi, T. Reardon, I.J. Abagyeh-Igbudu, A. Muhammed, B. Sule, M.I. Hudu, A.L. Ibrahim, G.E. Onu-Odey, A. Emmanuel and E.Y. James. 2022. Pivoting in Nigeria ’s fish and poultry value chains in response to COVID-19 policies and impacts. NAPA Research Report No.1. Michigan State University and IFPRI, East Lansing, MI, USA. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29195.57125
-
Lu, L. and T. Reardon. 2018. An economic model of the evolution of food retail and supply chains from traditional shops to supermarkets to e-commerce. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 100: 1320-1335. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aay056
-
Masters, B. and A. Edgecliffe-Johnson. 2021. Supply chains: companies shift from ‘just in time’ to ‘just in case.’ Financial Times, 20 December 2021. https://www.ft.com/content/8a7cdc0d-99aa-4ef6-ba9a-fd1a1180dc82
-
Meyer, F., T. Reardon, T. Davids, M. van der Merwe, D. Jordaan, M. Delport and G. van der Burgh. 2022. Hotspots of vulnerability: analysis of food value chain disruptions by COVID-19 policies in South Africa. Agrekon 60: 21-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/03031853.2021.2007779
-
Minten, B., B. Mohammed, S. Tamru. 2020. Emerging medium-scale tenant farming, gig economies, and the COVID-19 disruption: the case of commercial vegetable clusters in Ethiopia. European Journal of Development Research 32: 1402-1429.
'Emerging medium-scale tenant farming, gig economies, and the COVID-19 disruption: the case of commercial vegetable clusters in Ethiopia ' () 32 European Journal of Development Research : 1402 -1429.
-
Nabwire, L., B. van Campenhout, N. Minot, R. Kabir, R. Vos, S. Narayanan, B. Rice, S.D. Aredo. 2022. Impact of COVID-19 on food value chains in Uganda: results of surveys of farmers, traders, and processors. Working Paper, IFPRI, Washington, DC, USA. Available at: https://www.ifpri.org/publication/impact-covid-19-food-value-chains-uganda-results-surveys-farmers-traders-and-processors
-
Reardon, T., M.F. Bellemare, and D. Zilberman. 2020. How COVID-19 may disrupt food supply chains in developing countries. In: J. Swinnen and J. McDermott (eds.) COVID-19 & Global Food Security. IFPRI, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 78-80. https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133762
-
Reardon, T., B. Belton, L.S.O. Liverpool-Tasie, L. Lu, C.S.R. Nuthalapati, O. Tasie and D. Zilberman. 2021a. E-commerce’s fast-tracking diffusion and adaptation in developing countries. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 43: 1243-1259. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13160
-
Reardon, T., R. Echeverría, J. Berdegué, B. Minten, S. Liverpool-Tasie, D. Tschirley, D. Zilberman. 2019. Rapid transformation of food systems in developing regions: highlighting the role of agricultural research & innovations. Agricultural Systems 172: 47-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.01.022
-
Reardon, T., A. Heiman, L. Lu, C.S.R. Nuthalapati, R. Vos and D. Zilberman. 2021b. ‘Pivoting’ by food industry firms to cope with COVID-19 in developing regions: E-commerce and ‘co-pivoting’ delivery-intermediaries. Agricultural Economics 52: 459-475. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12631
-
Reardon, T. and J. Swinnen. 2020. COVID-19 and resilience innovations in food supply chains. In: J. Swinnen and J. McDermott (eds.) COVID-19 & global food security. IFPRI, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 132-136. https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133762
-
Reardon, T., J. Swinnen, and R. Vos. 2022. COVID-19 and resilience innovations in food supply chains: two years later. In: J. McDermott and J. Swinnen (eds.) COVID-19 and global food security: two years later. IFPRI, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 87-92. https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896294226
-
Reardon, T. and R. Vos. 2021. Food supply chains: Business resilience, innovation, and adaptation. In: IFPRI (ed.) 2021 global food policy report: transforming food systems after COVID-19. IFPRI, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 64-73. https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293991_06
-
Reardon, T. and D. Zilberman. 2018. Climate smart food supply chains in developing countries in an era of rapid dual change in agrifood systems and the climate. In: L. Lipper, N. McCarthy, D. Zilberman, S. Asfaw and G. Branca (eds.) Climate smart agriculture: building resilience to climate change. FAO and Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 335-351. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61194-5_15
-
Swinnen, J. and R. Vos. 2021. COVID-19 impacts on global food systems and household welfare: Key insights from the special issue. Agricultural Economics 52: 365-374. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12623
-
Van Hoyweghen, K., A. Fabry, H. Feyaerts, I. Wade, M. Maertens. 2021. Resilience of global and local value chains to the Covid-19 pandemic: Survey evidence from vegetable value chains in Senegal. Agricultural Economics 52: 423-440. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12627
-
Winston, A. 2014. Resilience in a hotter world. Harvard Business Review April 2014: 56-64. https://hbr.org/2014/04/resilience-in-a-hotter-world
-
Zeng, Y., F. Jia, L. Wan and H. Guo. 2017. E-commerce in agrifood sector: a systematic literature review. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 20: 439-459.
'E-commerce in agrifood sector: a systematic literature review ' () 20 International Food and Agribusiness Management Review : 439 -459.
-
Zilberman, D., L. Lu and T. Reardon. 2019. Innovation-induced food supply chain design. Food Policy 83: 289-297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.03.010
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Full Text Views | 526 | 359 | 34 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 618 | 435 | 47 |
How resilience innovations in food supply chains are revolutionizing logistics, wholesale trade, and farm services in developing countries
In: International Food and Agribusiness Management ReviewNon-resident Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 1201 Eye Street, Washington, DC 20005, USA.
Search for other papers by Thomas Reardon in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Rob Vos in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Developing country food supply chains have been pummeled by a series (and often a confluence) of shocks over the past several decades, including the Russia-Ukraine war, COVID-19, climate shocks from hurricanes to floods to droughts, animal and plant diseases, an intensification of road banditry and local conflicts, and overlaying all these, deep transformation in markets themselves with new requirements for quality and food safety. Yet supply chains have been largely resilient, adapting and bouncing back in surprising ways. We show that this has often involves deep ‘pivoting’ by one segment or one value chain, and ‘co-pivoting’ by another to facilitate the former’s pivot. We present a conceptual framework and then illustrate with a variety of examples from Africa and Asia, such as pivoting toward e-commerce by Asian retailers and co-pivoting by delivery intermediaries; pivoting toward quality horticultural production by African and Asian farmers and co-pivoting by mobile outsource services for farming and marketing; and building of redundant ports to protect rice milling operations from climate shocks in Asia by agribusiness and logistic firms. The paper provides implications for policy to facilitate these adaptions and for resilience strategies of agribusiness firms.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Full Text Views | 526 | 359 | 34 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 618 | 435 | 47 |
