Local Chain Research Articles

Transmission networks of SARS-CoV-2 in Coastal Kenya during the first two waves: A retrospective genomic study.

Detailed understanding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) regional transmission networks within sub-Saharan Africa is key for guiding local public health interventions against the pandemic. Here, we analysed 1139 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from positive samples collected between March 2020 and February 2021 across six counties of Coastal Kenya (Mombasa, Kilifi, Taita Taveta, Kwale, Tana River, and Lamu) to infer virus introductions and local transmission patterns during the first two waves of infections. Virus importations were inferred using ancestral state reconstruction, and virus dispersal between counties was estimated using discrete phylogeographic analysis. During Wave 1, 23 distinct Pango lineages were detected across the six counties, while during Wave 2, 29 lineages were detected; 9 of which occurred in both waves and 4 seemed to be Kenya specific (B.1.530, B.1.549, B.1.596.1, and N.8). Most of the sequenced infections belonged to lineage B.1 (n = 723, 63%), which predominated in both Wave 1 (73%, followed by lineages N.8 [6%] and B.1.1 [6%]) and Wave 2 (56%, followed by lineages B.1.549 [21%] and B.1.530 [5%]). Over the study period, we estimated 280 SARS-CoV-2 virus importations into Coastal Kenya. Mombasa City, a vital tourist and commercial centre for the region, was a major route for virus imports, most of which occurred during Wave 1, when many Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) government restrictions were still in force. In Wave 2, inter-county transmission predominated, resulting in the emergence of local transmission chains and diversity. Our analysis supports moving COVID-19 control strategies in the region from a focus on international travel to strategies that will reduce local transmission. This work was funded by The Wellcome (grant numbers: 220985, 203077/Z/16/Z, 220977/Z/20/Z, and 222574/Z/21/Z) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), project references: 17/63/and 16/136/33 using UK Aid from the UK government to support global health research, The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the funding agencies.

Blockchain Technology toward Creating a Smart Local Food Supply Chain

The primary purpose of the supply chains is to ensure and secure the availability and smooth flow of the necessary resources for efficient production processes and consumption. Supply chain activities have been experiencing significant changes due to the importance and creation of the integrated process. Blockchain is viewed as an innovative tool for transforming supply chain management’s (SCM’s) actual business model; on the other hand, the SCM provides an applicative value of blockchain technology. The research is focused on examining the influence of blockchain technology on the increasing efficiency, transparency, auditability, traceability, and security issues of the food supply chain (FSC), with particular attention to the local food supply chain (LFSC). The main objective of the research is to suggest the implementation of blockchain technology in the local food supply chain as a niche of the food industry. The result of the research is the identification of a three-layers model of a smart local food supply chain. The model provides efficient and more transparent tracking across the local food supply chain, improving food accessibility, traceability, and safety.

Developing agri-food value chains: learning networks between exploration and exploitation

ABSTRACT Purpose The present study explores the development of agri-food value chains from an organizational learning perspective, using the German organic food sector as an example. We illustrate how the development of local value chains unfolds over time and outline how facilitation can support this process. Design/methodology/approach The study used an action research design to facilitate change in practice and to create new knowledge. Data were collected through qualitative interviews, participant observation, and documentation of workshops and other learning activities. Data analysis and conceptualization followed a grounded theory approach. Findings The development process of value chains occurs in three phases, from joint exploration of the problem, through a phase of experimentation and implementation, to further cultivation of established collaborations among value chain actors. The development process oscillates between intra- and inter-organizational learning as well as explorative and exploitative activities. Practical implications The results of this study can help to understand and to further professionalize the practice of value chain development and provide guidance for facilitators and other stakeholder working in this field. Theoretical implications By drawing on the theory of exploration and exploitation, the study enhances the understanding of value chains collaboration in an inter-organizational setting. The study conceptualizes the development of agri-food value chains and the role of facilitators in the process. Originality/value There is little research to date that considers the development of value chains as a collaborative learning process. The presented grounded theory of local value chain development may inform further research on the transition towards a more sustainable agri-food system.

Blockchain-Enabled Fish Provenance and Quality Tracking System

Accurate assessment of fish quality is difficult in practice due to the lack of trusted fish provenance and quality tracking information. Working with Sydney Fish Market (SFM), we develop a Blockchain-enabled fish provenance and quality tracking (BeFAQT) system. A multilayer Blockchain architecture based on attribute-based encryption (ABE) is proposed to tackle the privacy issue caused by applying Blockchain to secure supply chain data and achieve trusted and confidential data sharing among parties in fish supply chains. An Internet-of-Things (IoT) chain saves encrypted fish provenance and quality tracking data, and an ABE chain is specifically designed for the access control to the data in the IoT chain. Latest IoT and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, including NarrowBand-IoT, image processing, and biosensing, are developed for fish origin proof, supply chain tracking, and objective fish quality assessment. As proven by field trials with SFM and a local fish supply chain, the BeFAQT is able to provide trusted and comprehensive fish provenance and quality tracking information in real time.

Improvements within the peanut production chain to minimize aflatoxins contamination: An Ethiopian case study

Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) are a worldwide crop appreciated by consumers and known to have several health benefits (e.g. decreasing risk of cardiovascular diseases, lowering LDL cholesterol). Nonetheless, during the production chain, peanuts can be contaminated by mycotoxigenic fungi, especially Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, responsible for contamination of this commodity with aflatoxins (AFs). Chronic exposure to these mycotoxins is known to have carcinogenic, teratogenic and immunosuppressive effects, while acute exposure can be fatal. Peanut-based products are considered the “new-gold” in Lower Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) as they are used to produce therapeutic food to fight malnutrition in children in the form of high energy bars (e.g. Plumpy’Nut®). The present study has been focused on an examination of the existing Ethiopian peanut supply chain to identify components that require improvements during pre-harvest, harvesting and post-harvest where practical and affordable intervention practices can be implemented. The lack of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), the use of traditional and rudimentary methods for drying and shelling peanuts, as well as inadequate storage locations are some of the main factors associated with the high contamination of Ethiopian peanuts with AFs. While control of AFs is complex, in-depth examination of existing practices has facilitated an overview of the potential for efficient and low-cost strategies to reduce and minimize these toxin risks in the Ethiopian peanut production chain. This includes the use of Drycard™ as a tool to check moisture content, the creation of homemade solar dryer and wooden nutcrackers, and the use of either the Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags or novel bags with slow-release food-grade preservatives. The implementation of some of these approaches should ensure a safer home-grown peanut supply chain that would contribute to the growth of the economy of the country by reducing the high costs of importing such raw materials and supporting the use of local smallholder farmers peanuts. This would have significant economic benefits in the local peanut production chain.

Five-years management of an emerging parasite risk (Eustrongylides sp., Nematoda) in a fishery supply chain located on Trasimeno Lake (Italy)

In the last few years, the widespread diffusion of potentially zoonotic parasitic nematodes of the genus Eustrongylides in the Trasimeno Lake, Central Italy, prompted Food Business Operators (FBOs) operating in the freshwater fish supply chain to define preventive measures to reduce or eliminate this new hazard from fishery products. The results of the self-checks for parasite risk management of a fishermen's cooperative over a five-year period (January 2016–April 2021) are presented. Nine freshwater commercial species, perch ( Perca fluviatilis ), largemouth black bass (Micropterus salmoides ), big-scale sand smelt ( Atherina boyeri ), eel ( Anguilla anguilla ), black bullhead ( Ictalurus melas ), carp ( Cyprinus carpio ), tench ( Tinca tinca ), goldfish ( Carassius auratus ), and pumpkinseed sunfish ( Lepomis gibbosus ), differently processed (filleted, whole gutted or whole ungutted), were investigated . The presence of visible parasites was assessed by visual inspection during processing and recorded. Eustrongylides sp. were found in all species examined except for goldfish. Eustrongylides sp. occurrence was negligible in large mouth black bass, eel, carp, and tench, while increasing prevalence rates over the years were observed in fillets of perch <400 g (from 4.2% in 2016 to 68% in 2021), batches of sand smelt (<1%–40%) and pumpkinseed sunfish (6%–99%). Still low but slightly increasing prevalence rates were also observed for black bull head. The rising of the infection in perch, sand smelt, and pumpkinseed sunfish lead to a progressive implementation of preventive measures including the definition of a sampling plan for the visual inspection followed by trimming or removal of the parasites from the muscle or the application of a threshold value to define the marketability of fish batches. This is the first study describing an approach for the management of the emerging risk posed by nematodes of the genus Eustrongylides in a freshwater fishery supply chain. Besides providing an updated epidemiological scenario in Lake Trasimeno, where this parasite was described for the first time in Italy in 2015, it could support other FBOs in the implementation of preventive measures to safeguard consumers' health and trust. • Eustrongylides sp. nematodes are becoming widespread in the Trasimeno Lake, Italy (85). • The local freshwater fishery supply chain is affected by Eustrongylides sp. (85). • 5-years of self-checks for parasites of a fishermen's cooperative are presented (82). • Nine commercial species differently processed were investigated (65). • Prevalence in perch, sand smelt and pumpkinseed sunfish are noticeably increased (85).

Local Value Chains in European MNEs

Ghemawat’s work in international business strategy demonstrates that Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) create value both by overcoming and by exploiting the price differences that exist at country borders. This paper evaluates the investment strategies of MNEs with subsidiaries in the 10 Central and Eastern Europe countries (CEEs) that had joined the European Union by 2007 through the lens of this insight. The data show that subsidiaries’ activities vary with the parent MNE’s home location. The CEE subsidiaries of Western European MNEs are more likely to be producing output that can be traded across country borders, particularly when their output differs from the main product of their parent company. The findings suggest Western European MNEs tend to invest in CEE countries to fragment value chains across the region, exploiting factor cost arbitrage opportunity in a semiglobalized world.

Influence of Agricultural Chains on the Carbon Footprint in the Context of European Green Pact and Crises

Agriculture and related activities generate a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions with environmental and biodiversity implications. Based on the European objectives proposed by the Green Pact, this paper assesses the carbon footprint of agricultural chains for European OECD member countries. The period analysed is 2000–2019, and the method applied is panel data, specific to OLS models. We opted for three research directions: one is general, one is geographical and one is in temporary dynamics. The general analysis shows that in the European region, the organically cultivated area and economic growth reduce the carbon footprint, while fertilisers, aquaculture production, investments in road infrastructure and agricultural area determine its increase. The geographical analysis outlines the existence of two clusters, one consisting of Member States where agricultural chains reduce their carbon footprint and one consisting of a larger number of Member States, including the major European agricultural powers, where agricultural chains increase the carbon footprint. The temporary analysis reveals that the EU has changed its paradigm since 2008–2009. Economic growth has been slowly decoupling from the carbon footprint since 2016, and the rest of the factors analysed have become more environmental since the late 2010s. The EU has positioned itself towards achieving the objectives set by the Green Pact at a slow pace, justified by the heterogeneity of members’ national characteristics, in addition to its purpose not to harm the food security of the population. In order to achieve the objectives proposed by the Green Pact, it is necessary to focus on more extensive organic farming and traditional production methods, more extensive efforts to reduce nitrogen surplus in fertilizer content, to support short agri-food chains and to identify new production techniques, including the use of nanotechnology and high-performance technologies. Local agricultural chains are crystallizing into a possible solution to the insecurity generated by energy and food crises, political conflicts, pandemics, under the observation that organic products should be excluded from the category of luxury commodity.

Reinvention of family farming markets in Brazil: the novelty of digital marketing sites and platforms in times of COVID-19

ABSTRACT The objective of this article is to analyze the process of reinvention and the characteristics of the markets of Brazilian family farming during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the (re)connections from websites and digital platforms for marketing food and products with urban consumers. To this end, an extensive survey of information was carried out with 38 initiatives distributed geographically in all regions of the country. The work shows that the new digital marketing channels of family farming in Brazil are strongly based on collective organizations, aim to build short local and regional chains, and supply the population with fresh, agro-industrialized and ecological food with varying attributes of quality.

Connecting businesses and biodiversity conservation through community organizing: The case of babassu breaker women in Brazil

AbstractWe investigate the role of community organizing in connecting business activities and biodiversity conservation. We draw from a unique setting in the Brazilian Amazônia Legal (Legal Amazon)—the traditional community of quebradeiras de coco do babaçu (babassu nut breaking women), or quebradeiras—to show how this community connects the subsistence activity of breaking babassu palm tree nuts with local and global value chains (GVCs) in the cosmetics industry. As a consequence of multidimensional community organizing and local/global business connections, we show not only the ways in which biodiversity conservation has been realized in a large area of the Amazon but also how the quebradeiras have developed organizational activities that address persistent social, economic, and environmental challenges. Through community organizing, the quebradeiras maintain a traditional activity, connect with GVCs, and protect the biodiversity of the regional ecosystem. We thus call attention to the impact of business on strengthening community organizing and fostering biodiversity conservation.

Challenging shea as a woman’s crop – masculinities and resource control in Burkina Faso

This article pays attention to the gendered resource struggles and changing division of labor of the feminized shea fruit in Burkina Faso. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore how the increased demand for shea has affected gendered natural resource access and divisions of labor in the local. Shea, often described as ‘women’s gold’, is one of few natural resources which women control harvest, processing and earnings. The increased demand for shea on the global market has therefore been presented as a benefactor for women’s economic empowerment in Burkina Faso. Yet, studies have pointed to that women seem to be sidelined in the shea commodity chain. This study explores how gendered natural resource struggles are formed in the local shea commodity chain by departing from three principles of gender analysis, access and control, labor division and subjectivities. The data was collected through ethnographic fieldwork in the two rural villages of Boessen and Tonogo in Burkina Faso. The analysis sheds light on the particularities in how men’s shea practices form masculinities and rearrange gendered labor norms. The study moreover shows how contestations of male involvement is done by targeting manhood and labor norm perceptions. Male involvement both re-produces hegemonic masculinities where male shea control delimits women’s income possibilities. Whilst it also shapes alternative masculinities which embraces cooperation and joint decision making within households.

Strategic direction for aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul hub after crisis recovery

Thailand must set a clear strategic direction for its aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) industry after the crisis. Commonly used management tools such as Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis, or SWOT analysis, alone may not work well as it provides only a basic outline of the current situation, but cannot identify priority areas for taking actions. We enhanced SWOT analysis using a multi-criteria decision-making technique called analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The SWOT-AHP combined tool can prioritize the internal and external factors affecting its strategic direction. The potential of the Southeast Asian MRO market, strong government support, and advanced digital technology development are among the areas highlighted for strategic planning in the future after recovery from the pandemic crisis. Priorities for strategic directions include strong government support and specific labor skill development, robust regulations and advanced technology adoption, and the support of local transportation infrastructure and supply chains.

How Do National Firms Respond to Local Cost Shocks?

Recent research shows prices are insensitive to local demand conditions because national chains charge geographically uniform prices. We examine the price response to local cost shocks, including 68 excise tax changes, 76 sales tax changes, and other geographically based cost differences, using data on 35,151 retail stores in 96 multi-state chains. We find local cost shocks are passed through to local prices, with no spillovers to unaffected stores in otherwise affected chains, and at similar rates for national and local chains. Firms adjust local prices according to local cost changes, suggesting retailers respond asymmetrically to local cost and demand shocks. (JEL D22, D40, H22, H25, H71, L10, L81)

Polyphenolic composition and antimicrobial activity of extracts obtained from grape processing by-products: Between green biotechnology and nutraceutical

Vitis vinifera (grape) is a multiuse crop rich in biomolecules with recognized health-promoting effects. In the wine-making industry, pomace is the main by-product, representing up to 20% of the whole biomass. However, the pomace and juice deriving from the pressing may represent innovative raw materials, and in the present study, the aim was to compare phenolic composition and biological activities of hydroalcoholic extracts obtained from grape pomace and juice of the cultivars Sagrantino, Tintilia, Vernaccia and Falanghina. While the Falanghina hydroalcoholic extract showed the highest total phenol level and antiradical potential, in Sagrantino pomace and Vernaccia juice, the catechin concentration was up to 20-fold higher compared to the other extracts. They also displayed the highest antimycotic effects, especially against Trichophyton rubrum and Arthroderma crocatum. However, their mycostatic effects could be only partially related to the catechin content. Indeed, the putative binding of catechin towards lanosterol-14-α-demethylase, deeply involved in fungal metabolism, would occur at a concentration ten-fold higher compared to the catechin level corresponding to the extracts’ MIC; thus suggesting multiple antimycotic mechanisms. Overall, the present study suggests the valorization of grape by-products that could open new applicative scenarios in the local productive chain, often characterized by high quality wine with low productive yield.

Effect of Ballast Degradation on Track Dynamic Behavior Using Discrete Element Modeling

Ballast degradation refers to the traffic use of in-service track when aggregate particles become smaller in size and fines are generated because of particle breakage and abrasion to cause geometry defects and influence the serviceability of ballasted track affecting train operations. To evaluate effects of ballast degradation on track substructure maintenance needs, single crosstie models were developed to simulate new and degraded ballast behavior under train loading. Particle size distributions and shape properties of the new and degraded ballast materials studied were adopted from previous laboratory tests conducted at the University of Illinois, U.S. Crosstie vibrations, ballast particle contact force distributions and particle rotations, and localized contact force chain networks were compared among different single crosstie models incorporating new and degraded ballast. The following key observations were made based on the simulation results: (1) crosstie on degraded ballast exhibits larger vibrations and more inconsistent vibration patterns; (2) degraded ballast shows a higher number of localized force chains with more particle contacts while the characteristic trend observed for new ballast is the presence of more symmetric force chain networks, which might be attributed to the new ballast layer’s uniform gradation and good interlock; (3) average normal contact forces are distributed more uniformly in new ballast in both horizontal and vertical directions as opposed to these forces concentrated more in vertical direction in degraded ballast; and (4) more ballast particles experience large rotations in degraded ballast and the related impact zone, which encloses all particles with large rotations, is also broader and deeper.

The rusted steel that binds: how craft producers form neolocal economies in Pittsburgh, PA

ABSTRACT As many post-industrial cities shift to service and information, manufacturing legacies – material and symbolic – persist in diverse ways. The “Steel City” of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania exemplifies both deindustrial transition to “eds and meds” and vibrant small-scale production. Cultural geographers interpret place-based craft production as neolocalism, while economic geographers emphasize ways craft can be embedded in evolving economic regions. To understand how local craft production is situated within economic and urban change, this project asks: How do craft producers work – individually and collaboratively – to produce neolocal economies in formerly industrial Pittsburgh? Semi-structured interviews, workshop tours, and a mapping exercise with twenty craft producers and suppliers explored the nature of small-scale production, its embeddedness in place, and professional and supplier networking. The research reveals ways craft workers, suppliers, and organizations in Pittsburgh self-consciously adapt social and material legacies of manufacturing, cluster in particular neighborhoods, and network to build local supply chains and communities. While producers are unevenly engaged in industrial legacies and economies and bound up in wider processes like gentrification, craft labor and collaboration can help maintain traditions of production in places once defined by them.

Hybrid governance of joint ventures in transitional economies: the case of Guangzhou Automobile Group in China

The conventional approach to examining firm-to-firm governance is unable to disentangle the complexity of strategies and the interplay between different actors with their corresponding rules and routines embedded within an institutional environment where the state plays as a key equity partner in joint ventures (JVs) in transitional economies. This paper proposes an analytical framework of hybrid governance to explain how an alignment of mutual interests between three groups of heterogeneous multi-scalar actors (states, local and foreign firms) facilitates technological upgrading in JVs and the establishment of local production networks in transitional economies. The case of Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) demonstrates how the divergent interests of various actors do not necessarily constrain the development of the JV. Under such hybrid governance, whereby the boundaries between public and private property are blurred, GAC’s senior managers have been able to navigate and align the multifaceted agendas of various actors: from the profit-maximization demanded by foreign JV partners and industrial development commanded by the central state, to the development of the local capacity and capability for large-scale production and product development and setting up local automotive supply chains required by the local state. Three necessary conditions for technological upgrading in JVs are identified: a 50-50 equity structure, a latecomer in a big market, and the financial imperative of local firm actors.

Entropy decay in the Swendsen–Wang dynamics on Zd

We study the mixing time of the Swendsen–Wang dynamics for the ferromagnetic Ising and Potts models on the integer lattice Zd. This dynamics is a widely used Markov chain that has largely resisted sharp analysis because it is nonlocal, that is, it changes the entire configuration in one step. We prove that, whenever strong spatial mixing (SSM) holds, the mixing time on any n-vertex cube in Zd is O(logn), and we prove this is tight by establishing a matching lower bound on the mixing time. The previous best known bound was O(n). SSM is a standard condition corresponding to exponential decay of correlations with distance between spins on the lattice and is known to hold in d=2 dimensions throughout the high-temperature (single phase) region. Our result follows from a modified log-Sobolev inequality, which expresses the fact that the dynamics contracts relative entropy at a constant rate at each step. The proof of this fact utilizes a new factorization of the entropy in the joint probability space over spins and edges that underlies the Swendsen–Wang dynamics, which extends to general bipartite graphs of bounded degree. This factorization leads to several additional results, including mixing time bounds for a number of natural local and nonlocal Markov chains on the joint space, as well as for the standard random-cluster dynamics.

China Transport Supply Chain Risk Management Challenges Face to COVID-19 Analysis

The international COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of 2019 has had a huge influencing factor on lot of global and local manufacturing transportation chains, and triggered a continuous risks of logistics chains breakage by the way the COVID-18 pandemic has revealed the weakness of intercontinental supply chains arising from initial raw material scarcity, mass production and transportation disruption, and human being isolation. Among them, the short-term and medium-term and long-term impacts include encouraging companies to improve the flexibility of supply chains by constructing supply chains digital platforms, supply chains diversification systems and supply chains early warning system in the short, medium and long term, the global supply chains layout will change from internationalization to regionalization, and some high-end manufacturing industries will have a backflow trends. The risks associated with global supply chains management have created a discourse among practitioners and academics. Supply chains risk management is an integral function of the supply chains networks. Supply chains risks management have increasingly becoming a more popular research area recently, when COVID-18 appeared regionally, internationally and globally. In the article there are presented different calculation equations beginning from risk assessment during transportation and finishing by risk modeling, there are important factors influencing logistics and mainly supply chains when different types of risks appeared during COVID-22 transportation time.

Evaluating the COVID-19 Impacts on Sustainable Procurement: Experiences from the Australian Built Environment Sector

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought global economies to a standstill and created challenges for a variety of sectors, including housing, building and infrastructure. Many business and government organisations have experienced some form of supply chain disruption—either through suppliers going offline, a sudden spike in demand or both. While embedding sustainability in procurement is a powerful tool for bringing about positive change in an organisation’s supply chains, this global pandemic has had a myriad of impacts on these procurement processes. Through focus group discussions with industrial practitioners and government decision makers from the Australian built environment sector, this study presents their lived experiences related to COVID-19 impacts on sustainable procurement. The emergent themes are: (1) the effects of COVID-19 on sustainable procurement, (2) the rapid development of reactive procurement responses and (3) levers for post-COVID-19 sustainable procurement. In order to learn from the challenges related to COVID-19, both government and industry need to re-assess their supply chain risks and determine the supply chain design that will deliver the most resiliency in the event of another large-scale disruption. There are several key levers, including developing reliable, transparent and local supply chains, leveraging innovative tools and digital engineering approaches, creating a coalition between government and industry and assessing risks at multiple levels. This study is the first of its kind to evaluate the COVID-19 impacts on sustainable procurement in the Australian building and construction industries. Government and industry practitioners can immediately apply these actionable recommendations to overcome the impacts of the pandemic and other disruptions on sustainable procurement activities.