Pub Date : 2024-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102763
Camille Horvath , Martin Koning , Gwenaëlle Raton , François Combes
In France, Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) operate under specific regulatory frameworks, involving either direct sales or transactions with no more than one intermediary. SFSCs are of particular interest to local communities as they offer a potential pathway to enhancing food security through the local provisioning of urban areas. This study investigates both consumers’ and farmers’ preferences for different SFSC outlets. Harmonized discrete choice experiments (DCEs) were conducted in 2022 in France, involving 1,021 consumers and 154 market gardeners, focusing on the consumption and sale of fresh vegetables. The objective is to examine the consistency and divergence between farmers’ and consumers’ choices among different outlets and attributes. The results indicate that consumers are less sensitive to the type of outlet than farmers. For consumers, relational proximity—direct interaction with farmers—emerges as a key factor, whereas farmers value this proximity only when it does not entail additional logistical burdens. Furthermore, mutual aid among farmers is highly appreciated, with farmers willing to lower prices when collaborating on tasks such as delivery. The findings suggest that travel time and outlet accessibility are critical, with longer travel times negatively affecting consumers more than farmers. These insights provide valuable guidance for enhancing SFSCs development, suggesting that policymakers should prioritize improving outlet accessibility, promoting farmer collaboration, and addressing logistical costs to better align supply with demand.
{"title":"Short food supply chains: The influence of outlet and accessibility on farmer and consumer preferences. Two discrete choice experiments","authors":"Camille Horvath , Martin Koning , Gwenaëlle Raton , François Combes","doi":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102763","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102763","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In France, Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) operate under specific regulatory frameworks, involving either direct sales or transactions with no more than one intermediary. SFSCs are of particular interest to local communities as they offer a potential pathway to enhancing food security through the local provisioning of urban areas. This study investigates both consumers’ and farmers’ preferences for different SFSC outlets. Harmonized discrete choice experiments (DCEs) were conducted in 2022 in France, involving 1,021 consumers and 154 market gardeners, focusing on the consumption and sale of fresh vegetables. The objective is to examine the consistency and divergence between farmers’ and consumers’ choices among different outlets and attributes. The results indicate that consumers are less sensitive to the type of outlet than farmers. For consumers, relational proximity—direct interaction with farmers—emerges as a key factor, whereas farmers value this proximity only when it does not entail additional logistical burdens. Furthermore, mutual aid among farmers is highly appreciated, with farmers willing to lower prices when collaborating on tasks such as delivery. The findings suggest that travel time and outlet accessibility are critical, with longer travel times negatively affecting consumers more than farmers. These insights provide valuable guidance for enhancing SFSCs development, suggesting that policymakers should prioritize improving outlet accessibility, promoting farmer collaboration, and addressing logistical costs to better align supply with demand.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":321,"journal":{"name":"Food Policy","volume":"129 ","pages":"Article 102763"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142705810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102765
Metin Çakır , Ana M. Pérez , Shawn Arita , Joseph Cooper , Rebecca Nemec Boehm
The recent food price inflation has sparked lively debates globally in media accounts, policy circles, and academics. A large body of literature has emerged across several fields of economics. However, each study typically focuses on a single or subset of causes, indicating that factors contributing to the recent food price inflation are broadly ranging and complex. This paper provides a comprehensive synthesis of what we learned about the major causes of high food prices in 2020–2022 in the United States and how they differ from those identified in prior food price hikes during the Great Recession of 2008. To provide context, we first discuss stylized facts about the U.S. food industry structure and previous empirical evidence on economy-wide drivers of high food prices. We then survey the literature on drivers of price surges observed since 2020. We document that the overall price surge, including food prices, in 2020–2022 has some unique factors primarily stemming from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic—specifically, U.S. fiscal support and money supply growth are the leading factors. Like in 2008, high commodity prices played a significant role in recent food price hikes—although their impacts might not be as large as in 2008. Inflation expectations due to high oil prices were a significant factor in 2008 but were not found to be an essential cause of the recent price hikes. Furthermore, the evidence on the role of factors directly related to retailers’ conduct, such as seller’s inflation or price gouging, is mixed. Considering our synthesis, we identify important gaps where future research is needed and policy priorities.
{"title":"Perspectives on high U.S. retail food prices during 2020–2022","authors":"Metin Çakır , Ana M. Pérez , Shawn Arita , Joseph Cooper , Rebecca Nemec Boehm","doi":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102765","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102765","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The recent food price inflation has sparked lively debates globally in media accounts, policy circles, and academics. A large body of literature has emerged across several fields of economics. However, each study typically focuses on a single or subset of causes, indicating that factors contributing to the recent food price inflation are broadly ranging and complex. This paper provides a comprehensive synthesis of what we learned about the major causes of high food prices in 2020–2022 in the United States and how they differ from those identified in prior food price hikes during the Great Recession of 2008. To provide context, we first discuss stylized facts about the U.S. food industry structure and previous empirical evidence on economy-wide drivers of high food prices. We then survey the literature on drivers of price surges observed since 2020. We document that the overall price surge, including food prices, in 2020–2022 has some unique factors primarily stemming from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic—specifically, U.S. fiscal support and money supply growth are the leading factors. Like in 2008, high commodity prices played a significant role in recent food price hikes—although their impacts might not be as large as in 2008. Inflation expectations due to high oil prices were a significant factor in 2008 but were not found to be an essential cause of the recent price hikes. Furthermore, the evidence on the role of factors directly related to retailers’ conduct, such as seller’s inflation or price gouging, is mixed. Considering our synthesis, we identify important gaps where future research is needed and policy priorities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":321,"journal":{"name":"Food Policy","volume":"129 ","pages":"Article 102765"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142705811","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-28DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102740
Rob Kidd, Christian Reynolds
Background
In the UK, food policy is often made by national government, but typically interpreted and implemented by councils. This research explores which local government functions are involved in food policy, how they work together and how coherent their policy positions are. It builds on earlier work to map the food policy actors at national government level and to understand local government’s many functions.
Methods
The researchers conducted a literature review using search terms including ‘local authority’, ‘local government’, ‘food’ and ‘food policy’ across two academic databases: Scopus and Web of Science, plus results from Food Policy on Science Direct. The total number of papers identified and analysed was 99. They then conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with employees of local authorities and representative bodies covering the various functions of local government. They analysed the interviews using NVivo to highlight the themes, which included priority food policy issues for councils; local government functions and how they relate to each other; external stakeholders; and success factors.
Findings
Despite the high degree of complexity, fragmentation and granularity in local government, there appears to be a high degree of food policy coherence within and between individual councils. However, there is policy incoherence between central and local government, where a lack of national strategy and piecemeal approach to devolution have hindered councils’ efforts to improve the food system. Some functions of councils are particularly ‘joined up’, with good multi-function and multi-agency working arrangements in public health, trading standards, environmental health, economic development, planning and sustainability. Other functions, notably adult social care, markets and emergency planning, have been harder to engage; interview responses suggest food policy is not a priority for these functions.
Conclusions
For food policy interventions in local government to be successful, they need to be accompanied by adequate long-term funding; a coalition of support; and to be seen as a priority by relevant stakeholders. Partnership arrangements provide good opportunities to make use of existing networks. Councils could do more to increase joint working between neighbouring councils.
背景在英国,食品政策通常由国家政府制定,但通常由议会解释和执行。本研究探讨了哪些地方政府职能参与了粮食政策,它们是如何合作的,以及它们的政策立场有多一致。研究方法研究人员利用两个学术数据库中的 "地方当局"、"地方政府"、"食品 "和 "食品政策 "等检索词进行了文献综述:Scopus 和 Web of Science,以及 Science Direct 上 Food Policy 的结果。然后,他们与地方政府雇员和地方政府各职能部门的代表机构进行了 30 次半结构式访谈。他们使用 NVivo 对访谈进行了分析,以突出主题,其中包括议会优先考虑的粮食政策问题;地方政府职能及其相互关系;外部利益相关者;以及成功因素。然而,中央政府和地方政府之间的政策并不一致,缺乏国家战略和零敲碎打的权力下放方法阻碍了议会改善粮食系统的努力。议会的一些职能特别 "联合",在公共卫生、贸易标准、环境卫生、经济发展、规划和可持续发展等方面都有良好的多功能和多机构工作安排。其他职能部门,尤其是成人社会关怀、市场和应急规划部门,则更难参与其中;访谈结果表明,粮食政策并不是这些职能部门的优先事项。伙伴关系安排为利用现有网络提供了良机。议会可以采取更多措施,加强相邻议会之间的联合工作。
{"title":"Food policy coherence in local government: Who does what and why?","authors":"Rob Kidd, Christian Reynolds","doi":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102740","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102740","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>In the UK, food policy is often made by national government, but typically interpreted and implemented by councils. This research explores which local government functions are involved in food policy, how they work together and how coherent their policy positions are. It builds on earlier work to map the food policy actors at national government level and to understand local government’s many functions.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The researchers conducted a literature review using search terms including ‘local authority’, ‘local government’, ‘food’ and ‘food policy’ across two academic databases: Scopus and Web of Science, plus results from <em>Food Policy</em> on Science Direct. The total number of papers identified and analysed was 99. They then conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with employees of local authorities and representative bodies covering the various functions of local government. They analysed the interviews using NVivo to highlight the themes, which included priority food policy issues for councils; local government functions and how they relate to each other; external stakeholders; and success factors.</div></div><div><h3>Findings</h3><div>Despite the high degree of complexity, fragmentation and granularity in local government, there appears to be a high degree of food policy coherence within and between individual councils. However, there is policy incoherence between central and local government, where a lack of national strategy and piecemeal approach to devolution have hindered councils’ efforts to improve the food system. Some functions of councils are particularly ‘joined up’, with good multi-function and multi-agency working arrangements in public health, trading standards, environmental health, economic development, planning and sustainability. Other functions, notably adult social care, markets and emergency planning, have been harder to engage; interview responses suggest food policy is not a priority for these functions.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>For food policy interventions in local government to be successful, they need to be accompanied by adequate long-term funding; a coalition of support; and to be seen as a priority by relevant stakeholders. Partnership arrangements provide good opportunities to make use of existing networks. Councils could do more to increase joint working between neighbouring councils.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":321,"journal":{"name":"Food Policy","volume":"129 ","pages":"Article 102740"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142528504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-24DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102742
Daniel Gaitán-Cremaschi , Diego Valbuena
Sustainable Public Food Procurement (SPFP) is pivotal in advancing sustainable and healthier food systems. However, practical gaps persist in understanding how policies function at the local implementation. This study addresses these gaps by analysing 22 SPFP contracts for school meals and social care centres in Spain, focusing on implementation while contextualizing findings within the broader policy cycle. This research categorizes SPFP criteria in tenders and evaluate their potential for actionability across sustainability, nutrition, & health dimensions. It also explores how these criteria are combined into purchasing strategies to achieve simultaneous or individual goals. Key findings reveal a strong use of product quality criteria, particularly organic foods, supported by policy and ease of implementation. However, non-ambitious targets, market constraints and procurement officers’ limited knowledge hinder progress. The study highlights significant adoption of nutritional & health criteria, though non-mandatory policies and varying regional targets impede consistent implementation and reveal gaps in promoting healthy and sustainable dietary practices. Environmental criteria are widely used signalling policy priorities within the EU policy framework. In contrast, proximity and social criteria are underutilized due to regulatory constraints and insufficient guidance. Despite these challenges, innovative local procurement strategies are utilized to overcome barriers. At the strategy level, the study reveals diverse approaches to SPFP implementation, highlighting adaptability but underscoring the need for flexible frameworks that accommodate local variations while aligning with broader EU or national goals. This research advocates for a holistic approach to SPFP that addresses both the practical challenges of implementation and the systemic issues present in the earlier stages of policy development.
{"title":"Examining purchasing strategies in public food procurement: Integrating sustainability, nutrition, and health in Spanish school meals and social care centres","authors":"Daniel Gaitán-Cremaschi , Diego Valbuena","doi":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102742","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102742","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sustainable Public Food Procurement (SPFP) is pivotal in advancing sustainable and healthier food systems. However, practical gaps persist in understanding how policies function at the local implementation. This study addresses these gaps by analysing 22 SPFP contracts for school meals and social care centres in Spain, focusing on implementation while contextualizing findings within the broader policy cycle. This research categorizes SPFP criteria in tenders and evaluate their potential for actionability across sustainability, nutrition, & health dimensions. It also explores how these criteria are combined into purchasing strategies to achieve simultaneous or individual goals. Key findings reveal a strong use of product quality criteria, particularly organic foods, supported by policy and ease of implementation. However, non-ambitious targets, market constraints and procurement officers’ limited knowledge hinder progress. The study highlights significant adoption of nutritional & health criteria, though non-mandatory policies and varying regional targets impede consistent implementation and reveal gaps in promoting healthy and sustainable dietary practices. Environmental criteria are widely used signalling policy priorities within the EU policy framework. In contrast, proximity and social criteria are underutilized due to regulatory constraints and insufficient guidance. Despite these challenges, innovative local procurement strategies are utilized to overcome barriers. At the strategy level, the study reveals diverse approaches to SPFP implementation, highlighting adaptability but underscoring the need for flexible frameworks that accommodate local variations while aligning with broader EU or national goals. This research advocates for a holistic approach to SPFP that addresses both the practical challenges of implementation and the systemic issues present in the earlier stages of policy development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":321,"journal":{"name":"Food Policy","volume":"129 ","pages":"Article 102742"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142528503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The US Department of Agriculture made women farmers eligible for the Transition Incentive Program (TIP) to improve their access to farmland. TIP is a federal program that transfers near-expiring lands in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) back to agricultural use while maintaining established conservation practices. It offers incentives to landowners and requires recipients to adhere to specific conservation plans on the acquired land. Since women have shown a stronger interest in sustainable practices and face more limited access to land, TIP has the potential to enhance women’s presence in farming. However, the program’s effectiveness has not been evaluated.
In this paper, we analyze county-level data from the 2017 Census of Agriculture and data on actual TIP use to provide the first estimates of the causal effect of TIP on the presence of women farmers. We use three matching techniques – nearest neighbor, kernel nearest neighbor, and inverse probability weighting – and find a small but statistically significant positive effect. While a comparison of the share of women farmers in non-matched counties with and without TIP-enrolled lands shows that counties with TIP use have fewer women farmers, the matched results indicate that utilizing TIP increased the proportion of women farmers by one percent, or about 805 women, in the study region. The Rosenbaum bounds sensitivity test shows that the results are stable. We conclude that TIP is marginally effective at increasing the number of women in agriculture.
美国农业部让女性农民有资格参与过渡激励计划 (TIP),以改善她们获得农田的机会。过渡激励计划是一项联邦计划,旨在将保护储备计划(CRP)中即将到期的土地转回农业用途,同时保持既定的保护措施。该计划为土地所有者提供激励措施,并要求接受者在收购的土地上遵守特定的保护计划。由于妇女对可持续实践表现出更浓厚的兴趣,且获得土地的机会更为有限,因此 TIP 有可能提高妇女在农业中的地位。在本文中,我们分析了 2017 年农业普查的县级数据和 TIP 的实际使用数据,首次估算了 TIP 对女性农民存在的因果效应。我们使用了三种匹配技术--最近邻、内核最近邻和反概率加权--发现了微小但在统计上显著的积极影响。对有和没有使用 TIP 的非匹配县的女农民比例进行比较后发现,使用 TIP 的县的女农民人数较少,但匹配结果表明,使用 TIP 使研究地区的女农民比例增加了 1%,即增加了约 805 名妇女。罗森鲍姆边界敏感性测试表明,结果是稳定的。我们的结论是,TIP 在增加农业女性人数方面略有成效。
{"title":"The transition incentive program and women farmers in the USA","authors":"Valentina Hartarska , Eugene Adjei , Denis Nadolnyak","doi":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102739","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102739","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The US Department of Agriculture made women farmers eligible for the Transition Incentive Program (TIP) to improve their access to farmland. TIP is a federal program that transfers near-expiring lands in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) back to agricultural use while maintaining established conservation practices. It offers incentives to landowners and requires recipients to adhere to specific conservation plans on the acquired land. Since women have shown a stronger interest in sustainable practices and face more limited access to land, TIP has the potential to enhance women’s presence in farming. However, the program’s effectiveness has not been evaluated.</div><div>In this paper, we analyze county-level data from the 2017 Census of Agriculture and data on actual TIP use to provide the first estimates of the causal effect of TIP on the presence of women farmers. We use three matching techniques – nearest neighbor, kernel nearest neighbor, and inverse probability weighting – and find a small but statistically significant positive effect. While a comparison of the share of women farmers in non-matched counties with and without TIP-enrolled lands shows that counties with TIP use have fewer women farmers, the matched results indicate that utilizing TIP increased the proportion of women farmers by one percent, or about 805 women, in the study region. The Rosenbaum bounds sensitivity test shows that the results are stable. We conclude that TIP is marginally effective at increasing the number of women in agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":321,"journal":{"name":"Food Policy","volume":"129 ","pages":"Article 102739"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2024-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142528502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-21DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102741
Sandro Steinbach, Yasin Yildirim, Carlos Zurita
{"title":"Potential implications of trade policy shifts after the 2024 U.S. presidential election for the agri-food sector","authors":"Sandro Steinbach, Yasin Yildirim, Carlos Zurita","doi":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102741","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102741","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":321,"journal":{"name":"Food Policy","volume":"129 ","pages":"Article 102741"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2024-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142528505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-17DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102735
Karan S. Shakya , Leah E.M. Bevis , Andrew L. Thorne-Lyman
Seasonal changes in food availability and disease incidence put pressure on children’s health in Sub-Sahara Africa. Using year-round survey data from Senegal, we examine how seasonality in key health inputs (dietary diversity, diarrhea, and fever) helps predict seasonality in children’s health (weight-for-height z-score). We first parameterize seasonal variation in health and health inputs using second-order trigonometric polynomials, then decompose the seasonal curve of children’s health into component parts explained by seasonality in each health input. We find that lagged seasonality in disease incidence predicts seasonality in child health, while seasonality in dietary diversity does not — likely because diets are poor in Senegal even during the most food-plentiful part of the year. We also observe noticeable heterogeneity in the way these health inputs predict children’s health across different wealth levels and regions.
食物供应和疾病发生率的季节性变化给撒哈拉以南非洲地区的儿童健康带来了压力。利用塞内加尔的全年调查数据,我们研究了主要健康投入(饮食多样性、腹泻和发烧)的季节性如何帮助预测儿童健康的季节性(体重身高 Z 值)。我们首先使用二阶三角多项式对健康和健康投入的季节性变化进行参数化,然后将儿童健康的季节性曲线分解为由各健康投入的季节性所解释的组成部分。我们发现,疾病发病率的滞后季节性可以预测儿童健康的季节性,而饮食多样性的季节性却不能预测儿童健康的季节性--这可能是因为塞内加尔即使在一年中食物最丰富的时期,饮食也很贫乏。我们还观察到,在不同的财富水平和地区,这些健康投入对儿童健康的预测方式存在明显的异质性。
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Pub Date : 2024-10-15DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102737
Arouna Kouandou , Inès Pérolde Zeh
In most low-income countries, households are exposed to a plethora of economic shocks with welfare-reducing consequences. In the absence of well-functioning financial markets, most households rely on informal savings through credit clubs/groups to reduce their vulnerability to these shocks. In this paper, we examine the extent to which participation in informal savings associations affects the ability of households to smooth their consumption in the face of both idiosyncratic and covariate shocks. Using a difference-in-difference fixed effects specification on the Nigerian household-level panel that spans four waves over eight years, with data collected in 2010/2011, 2012/2013, 2015/2016 and 2018/2019, we documented heterogenous effects of informal savings. The results suggest that informal savings help households to hedge consumption against rainfall shocks. We find heterogeneous effects of informal savings in insuring consumption against idiosyncratic shocks, depending on whether households live in urban or rural areas. These results provide new insights into the role of informal financial arrangements in sub-Saharan Africa.
{"title":"Insuring consumption against Shocks: The role of informal savings in Nigeria","authors":"Arouna Kouandou , Inès Pérolde Zeh","doi":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102737","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102737","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In most low-income countries, households are exposed to a plethora of economic shocks with welfare-reducing consequences. In the absence of well-functioning financial markets, most households rely on informal savings through credit clubs/groups to reduce their vulnerability to these shocks. In this paper, we examine the extent to which participation in informal savings associations affects the ability of households to smooth their consumption in the face of both idiosyncratic and covariate shocks. Using a difference-in-difference fixed effects specification on the Nigerian household-level panel that spans four waves over eight years, with data collected in 2010/2011, 2012/2013, 2015/2016 and 2018/2019, we documented heterogenous effects of informal savings. The results suggest that informal savings help households to hedge consumption against rainfall shocks. We find heterogeneous effects of informal savings in insuring consumption against idiosyncratic shocks, depending on whether households live in urban or rural areas. These results provide new insights into the role of informal financial arrangements in sub-Saharan Africa.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":321,"journal":{"name":"Food Policy","volume":"129 ","pages":"Article 102737"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142438054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-11DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102730
Xuqi Chen , Zhifeng Gao , Lisa House , Yujuan Gao
Nutrition Facts labels or Nutrition Facts Panel(s) (NFP) are a critical channel for communicating food nutrition information to consumers. A fundamental question is how to help consumers effectively understand and use the label without missing important information. This paper introduces a color-coded NFP and investigates its impacts on information search and consumer behavior, such as attention to information, food choice, and food health perception. Results show that the color-coded NFP attracts more attention than a black-and-white NFP, specifically for nutrients such as fat, sodium, and sugars, which should be limited. Additionally, the color-coded NFP made it easier for consumers to make food purchase decisions and led consumers to make healthier choices for some products (e.g., chips). Finally, the color-coded NFP reduces the time needed and contributes to a more accurate evaluation of the products’ healthiness in the case of chips, reducing the information processing costs and increasing the utilization of information. Our research demonstrates that the color-coded NFP is more attractive, efficient, and effective in delivering nutrition information and contributes to a healthier decision for some products (e.g., chips) than the traditional NFP.
{"title":"Do color-coded Nutrition Facts Panels nudge the use of nutrition information?","authors":"Xuqi Chen , Zhifeng Gao , Lisa House , Yujuan Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102730","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102730","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nutrition Facts labels or Nutrition Facts Panel(s) (NFP) are a critical channel for communicating food nutrition information to consumers. A fundamental question is how to help consumers effectively understand and use the label without missing important information. This paper introduces a color-coded NFP and investigates its impacts on information search and consumer behavior, such as attention to information, food choice, and food health perception. Results show that the color-coded NFP attracts more attention than a black-and-white NFP, specifically for nutrients such as fat, sodium, and sugars, which should be limited. Additionally, the color-coded NFP made it easier for consumers to make food purchase decisions and led consumers to make healthier choices for some products (e.g., chips). Finally, the color-coded NFP reduces the time needed and contributes to a more accurate evaluation of the products’ healthiness in the case of chips, reducing the information processing costs and increasing the utilization of information. Our research demonstrates that the color-coded NFP is more attractive, efficient, and effective in delivering nutrition information and contributes to a healthier decision for some products (e.g., chips) than the traditional NFP.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":321,"journal":{"name":"Food Policy","volume":"129 ","pages":"Article 102730"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2024-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142434034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102736
Lijun Summerhayes , Douglas Baker
Food policy integration is critical for sustainability as urban food policies become a new norm in the policy agenda. Yet, little research demonstrates how food policies are integrated with food systems and across governance to achieve urban sustainability. This paper presents the Trans-Governance and Food Systems (Tr-GaF) framework for food policy integration developed to evaluate the Australian food policy landscape. The analysis of 102 food-relevant policy documents sourced from multiple government institutions in Queensland, Western Australia, and Victoria identifies limited food policy integration in Australia, with little attention paid to food-related urban planning. Policy misalignments arise in the agrifood economy, health and well-being, and environment and ecology domains, with horizontal and vertical fragmentation across governance levels and sectors. Inadequate integration with food systems further jeopardises the efficiency of urban food supply chains and consumption activities. These three prominent issues collectively stifle urban sustainability by economically restraining food supply chain actors’ ability to innovate and compete. While environmental imbalance worsens, urbanites inevitably face barriers to maintaining health and social well-being. Tr-GaF provides an evidenced-based framework for policymakers to evaluate and integrate food policies anchored in food systems governed by collaborative multi-scalar government agencies, institutions, food industries, and civil society. In doing so, urban development can sustainably evolve economically, socially, and environmentally.
{"title":"Trans-Governance and Food Systems (Tr-GaF) for food policy integration: A case study of the Australian food policy landscape","authors":"Lijun Summerhayes , Douglas Baker","doi":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102736","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102736","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Food policy integration is critical for sustainability as urban food policies become a new norm in the policy agenda. Yet, little research demonstrates how food policies are integrated with food systems and across governance to achieve urban sustainability.<!--> <!-->This paper presents the <strong><u>Tr</u></strong>ans-<strong><u>G</u></strong>overnance <u>a</u>nd <strong><u>F</u></strong>ood Systems (<em>Tr-GaF</em>) framework for food policy integration developed to evaluate the Australian food policy landscape. The analysis of 102 food-relevant policy documents sourced from multiple government institutions in Queensland, Western Australia, and Victoria identifies limited food policy integration in Australia, with little attention paid to food-related urban planning. Policy misalignments arise in the agrifood economy, health and well-being, and environment and ecology domains, with horizontal and vertical fragmentation across governance levels and sectors. Inadequate integration with food systems further jeopardises the efficiency of urban food supply chains and consumption activities. These three prominent issues collectively stifle urban sustainability by economically restraining food supply chain actors’ ability to innovate and compete. While environmental imbalance worsens, urbanites inevitably face barriers to maintaining health and social well-being. <em>Tr-GaF</em> provides an evidenced-based framework for policymakers to evaluate and integrate food policies anchored in food systems governed by collaborative multi-scalar government agencies, institutions, food industries, and civil society. In doing so, urban development can sustainably evolve economically, socially, and environmentally.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":321,"journal":{"name":"Food Policy","volume":"128 ","pages":"Article 102736"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142428156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}