Theme and Background
The production and marketing of food is realized in an interdependent dynamic
system – the food system – that builds on a complex infrastructure
of actors including
- enterprises and chains in production agriculture, food processing, and retail as well as
- consumers, media, and an institutional environment for policy, marketing, and management support.
The system is characterized by dynamic interactions and interdependencies between these actors as well as between the food system and its political, economic, technical, socio-cultural, and natural environment.
The food system dynamics constitute a constant challenge for its actors to create a development path for themselves and the food sector as a whole that ensures sustainability and competitiveness.
Key success factors for meeting the challenges include the
creation and implementation of system innovations and the identification and support of drivers for sustainable system dynamics
in production, organization (internal processes, logistics, and marketing), technology, and management including the flexibility and speed to adapt to changing conditions and scenarios.
System innovations/dynamics in food chains and networks might focus on such diverse elements as inter-company quality systems and quality standards, financing, inter-organizational information systems (such as those for chain management or tracking and tracing), risk management, chain governance structures, regional or global logistics systems, new business-to-business relationships that are highly responsive to dynamic consumer and market demands, etc. Implementation strategies depend on capital investment, the activation of financial funds, the coordination of actors and the acceptance of risk, elements that are themselves up for innovative developments.
The food system’s dynamic interdependencies require a multidisciplinary
view and research that crosses the boundaries of traditional lines.