Lower Food Prices Research Articles

Sustainable Operations of Online and Offline Restaurants: Focusing on Multi-Brand Restaurants

This study investigates the sustainable operations of a multi-brand restaurant that adopts multiple brands in a store, unlike a typical restaurant that operates only a single brand. We introduce five restaurant operation models, including three traditional single-brand ones (offline, online, and multi-channel) and two recent multi-brand restaurants with a single fixed franchise fee and multiple franchise fees proportional to the number of brands. We then investigate the performance of the models in the changing market and cost environments. Through analytical and numerical analyses, we reveal that adopting a multi-brand restaurant does not always guarantee superior profit performance. Such an adoption is recommended under certain conditions, such as when the potential market base is large, consumers are not very price-sensitive, food and delivery costs are low, an increase in food items does not significantly impact process inefficiency, franchise fees are low, or the relative market power of multiple brands is strong. Otherwise, adopting the traditional single-brand restaurant would guarantee better profit performance. Therefore, for a sustainable multi-brand restaurant adoption, it is important to create a business environment that can lower food prices, and a thorough understanding of the decision dynamics related to the number of brands is required.

Biofortification: Future Challenges for a Newly Emerging Technology to Improve Nutrition Security Sustainably

Biofortification was coined as a term to define a plant breeding strategy to increase the micronutrient content of staple food crops to reduce the burden of micronutrient deficiencies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In 2003, the HarvestPlus program, based in the centers comprising the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), was initiated to implement the biofortification strategy. This paper discusses what has been achieved, what has been learned, and the key challenges to embed biofortification in food systems and to expand its impact.Cost-effectiveness is key to the biofortification strategy. Biofortification piggybacks on the agronomically-superior varieties being developed at agricultural research centers. Central plant breeding research discoveries can be spread globally. Farmers have every motivation to adopt the latest high-yielding, high profit crops. High productivity leads to lower food prices. As a consequence, consumers can increase their mineral and vitamin intakes at no additional cost by substituting biofortified staple foods one-for-one for non-biofortified staple foods. After twenty years of investment, biofortified staple food crops are being produced by farmers in over 40 countries and are eaten by hundreds of millions of people. Published nutrition trials have shown nutrient-rich crops to be efficacious. The biofortification strategy is now recognized by the international nutrition community as one effective approach among several interventions needed to reduce micronutrient deficiencies. This is a promising beginning. However, biofortification is still a newly emerging technology. A limitation of biofortification as implemented to date is that densities of single nutrients have been increased in given staple food crops. To reach a higher trajectory, the impacts of biofortification can be multiplied several-fold using genetic engineering and other advanced crop development techniques to combine multiple-nutrient densities with climate-smart traits.

Lowering trade barriers improves income distribution and economic resiliency

The U.S.-China trade war, COVID-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine contributed to calls for greater economic self-sufficiency by exposing gaps in international collaboration and the uncertainty of global supply chains. In this study, we apply a comprehensive global modeling framework to enhance understanding of the potential impacts of fragmentation of global value chains. Supporting the general argument toward economic benefits from open markets our analysis contributes to the policy debate in two important dimensions of this phenomenon—distributional impacts and economic resiliency. We find that tariff liberalization and trade facilitation measures implemented by developing countries could not only reduce between-country inequality but also result in progressive within-country income distribution primarily through lowering food prices, as well as increasing unskilled wages. In addition, using a case study of disruption to Thailand’s electronics industry, we find higher resiliency of developing countries to external shocks in the globalized (as opposed to a localized) world.

Assessing the impacts of technological change on food security and climate change mitigation in China’s agriculture and land-use sectors

China has made substantial investment in agricultural research and development (R&D) to promote technological change (TC). Although the role of TC in enhancing agricultural production and mitigating environmental impacts is widely recognized in separate contexts, knowledge about its’ effects on food security and the environment, especially with a focus on China, is still lacking. This study uses an agro-economic optimization model to assess the impact of TC on food security and climate change mitigation. Our results indicate that TC plays an important role in improving agricultural productivity, which, in turn, contributes to a comparative advantage in agricultural trade. It also strengthens food security through lowering food prices. By contrast, a higher TC level increases greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, albeit marginally, due to higher agricultural production for exports. This indicates a rebound effect of agricultural productivity on GHG emissions. Therefore, additional efforts are required in China to improve food security without compromising GHG mitigation.

Fostering Food Security through Enhanced Fertilizer Production: Examining Policy Frameworks

Agriculture is an important tool in poverty alleviation especially in rural areas whose economy mainly relies on agriculture as a source of income. Nevertheless, Nigeria is to face the food security crisis due to its agriculture sector which it heavily depends, but food consumption is imported rather than self-produced. Projections indicate that by 2030 Nigeria’s population will double the 2006 estimation which necessitates increased food production to meet the growing and urbanizing population needs and to open possibilities of exports. Apart from this, the country is faced with soil degradation as a result of inappropriate agricultural practices; erosion and gully, deforestation as well as climate change. It endangers the once dominant subsistent farm economy. The problems rose above show that there is an urgent need to review the role of fertilizers in food production for better food security. Proper execution of fertilizer policies becomes a powerful tool towards increasing agricultural production, malnutrition reduction and poverty alleviation through lowering food prices. Nevertheless, demand and supply factors like low farmers’ incomes, high market prices due the limited availability of fertilizer and public policy response also known as price incentives influence the low usage of fertilizers in Nigeria. In view of above problems, there is an urgent need to have a more holistic approach to sustainably raise agricultural productivity in Nigeria with a view to averting food shortage. Keywords: Food security, Fertilizer production, Agricultural productivity, Poverty alleviation, Policy frameworks

Nutrient adequacy for poor households in Africa would improve with higher income but not necessarily with lower food prices

Healthy diets are not affordable to all in Africa due to a combination of high food prices and low incomes. However, how African consumers might change demand patterns if prices or incomes were to change remains poorly understood. Using nationally representative household panel survey data from five sub-Saharan African countries, we model consumer preferences and examine how nutrient intake responds to changing food prices, total expenditures and other demand determinants. Here we find a stronger positive relationship between growth in poor consumers’ total expenditures and their nutrient intake adequacy than has been previously documented. We also find that poor consumers’ intake adequacy is especially sensitive to food staple prices in countries where one food staple dominates poor consumers’ diets. In countries with multiple food staples, no single staple’s price is a strong determinant of poor consumers’ dietary intake adequacy.

Enhancing Governance Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa Can Bolster Climate Mitigation and Food Security

The sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region has experienced substantial population growth over the past decades, accompanied by severe hunger and environmental degradation. Underperforming governance is a major driver of unsustainable agricultural production and land use in SSA. The impacts of governance performance on food security and the environment in SSA require better understanding by considering socioeconomic and biophysical dynamics. Using an agro-economic dynamic optimization model, we investigate the impacts of governance performance on land use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and food security in the SSA region by 2050. Our findings indicate that strong governance could lead to less deforestation, thus reducing GHG emissions in the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector. Strong governance could also improve food security, with higher agricultural productivity, lower food prices and food expenditure share, as well as higher self-sufficiency. These findings highlight that those efforts should extend beyond specific agricultural and environmental measures and promote integrated governance to achieve long-term synergies between food and environmental security in SSA.

Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture & Vice Versa: A Review

The article tackles the intricate relationship between agriculture and climate change, shedding light on the sector's vulnerability to the issue and its significant contribution to it. It not only underlines the simultaneity of the problem of climate change adaptation in agriculture but also highlight the need of greenhouse gas reductions. Climate change disrupts agricultural practices through extreme weather events like droughts, flood and unpredictable rainfall patterns. Climate changes threaten agricultural output and food security, economic hardship and social unrest. Climate change isolates crops production hence resulting in low yields, economic losses, and changing food prices. Cattle, rice growth, fertilizer use and residue burning are principal greenhouse gas contributors of agriculture. When carving virgin forests for agricultural purposes, the ancient carbon is released and climatic patterns are disrupted, greatly exacerbating the problem. These agricultural practices include deforestation, utilization of fossil fuel, and intensive use of water. Mitigation in climate change require sustainable agricultural practices that reduced emission and improve soil health. We need to adapt agricultural practices to be more resilient in the face of climate change while also reducing agricultures contribution to the problem. The complex interplay between climate change and agriculture requires a holistic approach that integrates mitigation and adaptation strategies at local, national and global scale. Efforts to enhance resilience, promote sustainable practices and support equitable adaptation measures are essential to safeguarding the future of agriculture in a changing climate

Is Climate Finance Helping Stabilise Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa?

This study explores the potential impact of climate finance (cf) on foodprices in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as climate change continues to createfood scarcity and increase food prices. The study analyses data from43 SSA countries between 2006 and 2018 using a panel fixed effect modelwith Driscoll-Kraay standard errors and methods of moments quantile regressions(MMQR). The findings indicate that countries in SSA that receivemore cf, improve their fight against corruption, have good rainfall patterns,experience reduced extreme temperatures, have depreciated currencies,larger populations and higher GDP growth, reduce food imports, increasedomestic food supply, and demonstrate high governance and socialreadiness are likely to experience stable or reduced food prices. Based onthese results, the study recommends that SSA governments prioritise anticorruptionefforts to earn donor trust and increase CF, ultimately leadingto lower food prices in the sub-region. Further, the findings indicatethat good rainfall patterns reduce food prices: this shows the need for SSAcountries to invest in policies that lead to reliablewater supply as irrigation.

Repurposing agricultural support policies for shared prosperity in rural Fiji

AbstractNotwithstanding the increasing place of tourism exports, the rural sector and its agricultural production remain important contributors to Fijiʼs economy. But their contribution is compromised by policies and institutions that distort the farm sectorʼs resource use, with too many resources employed by sugar and livestock producers at the expense of other farmers and producers of non‐farm products. Subsidies to the sugar industry could be used instead to boost investment in rural public goods such as infrastructure and agricultural research. That would benefit a much larger proportion of rural people, many of whom are below the poverty line. So too would a lowering of tariffs on imports of meat and milk products. And by thereby lowering food prices in urban areas, such re‐purposing of support would benefit their poorest households most. It would also lower the prices of high‐protein livestock products and nutrient‐rich fruits and vegetables, which could well improve nutrition and health.

Revisiting the Role of Agriculture in Economic Growth: Can Lower Food Prices Explain the Economic Transition Status of Indonesia Relative to South Korea?

The main objective of this article is to explain the possible mechanism between food prices and the economic transition status difference between Indonesia and South Korea. Moreover, the article also discusses the possible source of success in lowering food prices in the two economies. The two-goods consumption model for two economies is used to relate the relative economic transition status and food prices. The model and the historical data show a similar pattern: the economic transition is diverging between the two economies while the food prices are relatively getting more expensive in Indonesia. The possible sources of lower food prices are discussed.

Adult food choices in association with the local retail food environment and food access in resource-poor communities: a scoping review

BackgroundThere is a growing body of research on local retail food environments globally in both urban and rural settings. Despite this, little research has been conducted on adult food choices, local retail environments, and healthy food access in resource-poor communities. The purpose of this study is therefore to provide an overview of the evidence on adult food choices (measured as dietary intake) in association with the local retail food environment and food access in resource-poor communities (defined as low-income communities and/or households).MethodsWe searched nine databases for studies published from July 2005 to March 2022 and identified 2426 records in the primary and updated search. Observational studies, empirical and theoretical studies, focused on adults ≤ 65 years, published in English peer-reviewed journals, examining local retail food environments and food access, were included. Two independent reviewers screened identified articles using the selection criteria and data extraction form. Study characteristics and findings were summarized for all studies and relevant themes summarized for qualitative and mixed methods studies.ResultsA total of 47 studies were included in this review. Most studies were cross sectional (93.6%) and conducted in the United States of America (70%). Nineteen (40.4%) studies assessed the association between food choice outcomes and local retail food environment exposures, and evidence on these associations are inconclusive. Associations of certain food choice outcomes with healthy food retail environments were positive for healthy foods (in 11 studies) and unhealthy foods (in 3 studies). Associations of certain food choice outcomes with unhealthy retail food environment exposures were positive for unhealthy foods in 1 study and negative for healthy foods in 3 studies. In 9 studies, some of the food choice outcomes were not associated with retail food environment exposures. A healthy food store type and lower food prices were found to be major facilitators for healthy food access in resource-poor communities, while cost and transportation were the main barriers.ConclusionsMore research is needed on the local retail food environment in communities in low- and middle-income countries to develop better interventions to improve food choices and access to healthy foods in resource-poor communities.

Towards a Framework Law on Sustainable Food Systems

SummaryThe European Commission has proposed a Framework Law on Sustainable Food Systems. To stimulate debate, this Point de Vue summarises the key messages of a policy brief by the European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils Network (EEAC). The European food system does not deliver sustainable diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to a healthy life for present and future generations. An EU Framework should foster human and planetary health in a coherent and balanced approach between an agricultural supply policy, environmental policy and food (consumption) policy. It should direct the strong innovation capacity of actors away from ever lower food prices towards more sustainable farming, food processing and food consumption. However, a just transition is key: to the extent that healthy diets are not affordable for consumers, compensation should be given by changes in minimum wages, social security or income taxes. Different policy instruments are needed. Food system actors should not be exempted from economy‐wide measures like carbon pricing. Certification of all commercial farms, as an extension of methods in organic farming and private label certifications is needed. Labelling, sustainable procurement and a blending obligation would reward more sustainable producers and raise the average price of the product towards its true cost.

An Economic Performance of Women Agricultural Workers: A Study in Erode District

Agriculture is the largest sector of economic activity in India. It provides not only food and raw materials but also provides employment to a large section of the people. The term agriculture is directly related to all types of activity relating to cultivating crops, growing crops, harvesting and main processing of agricultural products, animal and livestock, and agro forestry. The growth rate of the economy was 6.8 percent from 2018 to 2019 and 7.5 percent from 2017 to 2018. There was a decline in the growth rate of agriculture and allied activity due to low wages in the agricultural sector, low food prices, and lack of lending by the Non-banking finance company’s (NBCFs) all these factors affect the growth of the agricultural sector in India. According to the 2011 census report, 54.6 percent of the people depend upon the agricultural and allied sectors for their livelihood. It contributes 16 percent of the country’s Gross Value Added for the year 2018 to 2019. So, this study aims to find out the socio-economic condition of women workers in agriculture in Erode District. This study focuses on the problems faced by the workers in Erode district and suggests various measures to develop the workers in the selected area.

KEBIJAKAN PERUBAHAN LAHAN DALAM PEMBANGUNAN FOOD ESTATE DI KALIMANTAN TENGAH

Permen LHK No. 24/2020 is a land use policy for Indonesia’s food security through food estates program. The program aims to increase the added value of local agricultural production in order to increase employment, low food prices, and the development of large-scale agricultural businesses. According to regulation issud by LHK, food estate policy has the potential to change forest areas into agricultural land because it is legalized by the government through Undang-Undang Cipta Kerja. The consequences of implementing this policy are including environmental damage, increased conflict and poor land use management which is not in accordance with the Central Kalimantan spatial plan (RTRWP). The food estate program becomes government's priority in achieving food security through the State supports in a fast and less bureaucracy process on land licensing. This indicates that the process of land clearing for food estate violates forestry and land use regulations.

Characteristics and Driving Forces of Non-Grain Production of Cultivated Land from the Perspective of Food Security

A large proportion of the cultivated land in China has been used for non-grain production purposes. As food insecurity is worsening worldwide, this issue has attracted attention from the Chinese government. In order to curb this trend and to ensure food security, this paper explores the quantitative characteristics and spatial distribution of cultivated land used for non-grain purposes in Liyang City, Jiangsu Province, and discusses the clustering characteristics and mechanisms behind this based on spatial autocorrelation analysis and geographically weighted regression (GWR). The results show that most of the cultivated land in Liyang City has not been used for non-grain purposes, and the cultivated land reserve is abundant. Among all land types, irrigable land has the largest non-grain production rate of cultivated land. There is no significant spatial correlation of cultivated land for non-grain purposes in most towns in Liyang, among which Kunlun Street is in the High-High (HH) zone and Daibu Town in the Low-High (LH) zone. It is also found that the same factor has various impacts on the non-grain production of cultivated land in different towns, and the number of enterprises is the core factor that leads to the non-grain use of cultivated land in Liyang city. Low food prices lead some farmers to plant other crops with higher economic benefits, and also lead to the outflow of the rural labor force. This will not only accelerate the non-grain production of cultivated land, but also cause a large amount of cultivated land to be in a state of unmanned cultivation, further aggravating the proportion of non-grain production in cultivated land.

Global Change of Land-Sparing and Land-Sharing Patterns over the Past 30 Years: Evidence from Remote Sensing and Statistics

Agricultural expansion, driven by the increasing demand on crops, poses a severe threat to the global environment and to human welfare. Regarded as an effective landscape pattern for balancing biodiversity and food security, land sparing bears high expectations from ecologists. To reflect the spatial-temporal pattern change of land sparing, we calculate a land sparing/sharing (LSS) index on the basis of a remote sensing dataset. The land-sparing pattern has shown an apparent increasing trend globally, especially in hotspots, including the eastern United States, central South America, northern Europe, Kazakhstan, southeastern China, and the Korean Peninsula. Meanwhile, the land-sharing pattern has been increasing in some other regions, including in the southeast of South America, western Europe, central Europe, southern Europe, and northwestern China. However, according to statistical datasets, contrary to the overall increasing trend of land sparing, passive land sparing, incentivized by lower food prices due to increased yields, is decreasing, especially in countries with high levels of development. Our results reveal the global trends in land sparing and passive land sparing, providing support for balancing biodiversity conservation and food security among countries and ecoregions.

Land-based implications of early climate actions without global net-negative emissions

Delaying climate mitigation action and allowing a temporary overshoot of temperature targets require large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) in the second half of this century that may induce adverse side effects on land, food and ecosystems. Meanwhile, meeting climate goals without global net-negative emissions inevitably needs early and rapid emission reduction measures, which also brings challenges in the near term. Here we identify the implications for land-use and food systems of scenarios that do not depend on land-based CDR technologies. We find that early climate action has multiple benefits and trade-offs, and avoids the need for drastic (mitigation-induced) shifts in land use in the long term. Further long-term benefits are lower food prices, reduced risk of hunger and lower demand for irrigation water. Simultaneously, however, near-term mitigation pressures in the agriculture, forest and land-use sector and the required land area for energy crops increase, resulting in additional risk of food insecurity. Delaying climate mitigation requires large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) in the second half of this century, with possible adverse effects. Under scenarios with no dependence on CDR technologies, this study examines the short- and long-term implications of climate mitigation for land-use and food systems.

Economic, social and environmental consequences of the use of genetically modified organisms

Object: to analyze the effectiveness of the use of genetically modified organisms in terms of economic efficiency, as well as environmental and social consequences.Methods: a theoretical review of the scientific literature on the research topic.Results: on the basis of literature data arguments are presented in favor and against the introduction of genetic modification technology in agriculture. Potential benefits and risks this technology may entail are considered.Conclusions: it has been established that genetic modification of crops provides multiple benefits, contributing to the simplification of production processes, an increase in profit margins, and a reduction in losses caused by diseases and pests. Lower cultivation costs, in turn, lead to lower food prices, which may be the key to solving the issue of hunger in developing countries. It was revealed, among other things, that the use of genetically modified crops not only does not harm biological diversity, but, on the contrary, contributes to its expansion. The findings could be utilized when justifying a regional agricultural development program.

Should we use antitrust policies on big agriculture?

AbstractThis paper discusses the benefits and costs of antitrust intervention in agriculture. We argue that over the long run, fixed costs have increased and marginal costs have decreased, which has created a tension between lower food prices and having a large number of farms. As opposed to policies of most industries, agricultural policy seems to place more importance upon producer surplus instead of consumer surplus, which runs directly counter to the goals of antitrust laws. While protecting small farms may potentially be an appropriate use of other policy instruments (such as the Farm Bill), using antitrust laws to break up large agricultural firms and/or protect small farms may result in higher food prices, which is regressive and exacerbates inequality. Furthermore, the application of antitrust law for the purpose of raising food prices and producer surplus is antithetical to its historic purpose.