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Fragmented governance of international value chains, operating in multiple jurisdictions, is insufficient to prevent social and environmental mismanagement. Smart Mixes, which are combinations of compulsory and voluntary measures, have been proposed as a possible means of securing environmental and social standards, but the concept has not been operationalized in the academic literature. We aim to identify the factors that have contributed to, or hindered, the performance of existing Smart Mixes in three international value chains (conflict minerals, palm oil, and bonds) using data from interviews with 32 experts, supplemented by a literature review. The results suggest that Smart Mixes are effective when they cover a specific issue under conditions in which enforcement mechanisms create a level playing field: thereby aligning public and private sector interests. The keys to success in a Smart Mix include positive interactions, harmonization, and complementary and supportive measures, which combine to motivate engagement by the private sector. We conclude that Smart Mixes can contribute to sustainability in value chains but their effectiveness is dependent on the strength of the relationships between the measures that compose them.

Combinations of national and international, hard and soft powers, known as Smart Mixes, have been proposed as a way for governments in consumer countries to influence the behaviour of supply chain actors who operate outside their jurisdiction. However, the Smart Mix concept has not yet been precisely defined, which has hindered its operationalization as a means of analyzing the governance of long and complex international supply chains. The aim of this contribution is to derive a working definition of Smart Mixes and use it to create and demonstrate a generalizable analytical tool that facilitates identification of whether a Smart Mix exists in an international supply chain. To address this aim, we reviewed existing literature on Smart Mixes to define the concept, which led to a three-step process for analyzing a supply chain. In a second stage, we demonstrate the process by applying it to the example of organic imports into Switzerland, using data from expert interviews and existing public documentation. The application showed that the governance of the organic sector in Switzerland related to imported products fulfils the criteria for it to be considered a Smart Mix that enables the Swiss Government to influence the behaviour of supply chain actors outside its jurisdiction. This example shows that the proposed Smart Mix concept is sound under particular circumstances: in this case, when the interests of the public and private sectors are aligned so that binding public measures provide protection to the private sector. These circumstances are not unique to organic imports into Switzerland, which allows the conclusion that Smart Mixes may provide sustainability solutions in other international supply chains.

Combinations of national and international, hard and soft powers, known as Smart Mixes, have been proposed as a way for governments in consumer countries to influence the behaviour of supply chain actors who operate outside their jurisdiction. However, the Smart Mix concept has not yet been precisely defined, which has hindered its operationalization as a means of analyzing the governance of long and complex international supply chains. The aim of this contribution is to derive a working definition of Smart Mixes and use it to create and demonstrate a generalizable analytical tool that facilitates identification of whether a Smart Mix exists in an international supply chain. To address this aim, we reviewed existing literature on Smart Mixes to define the concept, which led to a three-step process for analyzing a supply chain. In a second stage, we demonstrate the process by applying it to the example of organic imports into Switzerland, using data from expert interviews and existing public documentation. The application showed that the governance of the organic sector in Switzerland related to imported products fulfils the criteria for it to be considered a Smart Mix that enables the Swiss Government to influence the behaviour of supply chain actors outside its jurisdiction. This example shows that the proposed Smart Mix concept is sound under particular circumstances: in this case, when the interests of the public and private sectors are aligned so that binding public measures provide protection to the private sector. These circumstances are not unique to organic imports into Switzerland, which allows the conclusion that Smart Mixes may provide sustainability solutions in other international supply chains.

Die meisten Menschen möchten sich gesund und nachhaltig ernähren. Was gesunde Ernährung bedeutet, ist allerdings genauso vielschichtig wie der Begriff nachhaltige Ernährung. Unterschiedliche, sich teilweise widersprechende Empfehlungen führen zu einer Verwirrung für Verbraucher und zu mangelnden Anhaltspunkten für politische Interventionen. Zu zeigen, wie Gesundheit und Nachhaltigkeit in Einklang gebracht werden können, ist Ziel des Artikels. Dazu werden Zielkonflikte und Synergien untersucht und Handlungsoptionen erörtert.

PurposeWe aim to compare multifunctionality, ecosystem services and just transition as overall conceptual approaches to understand agri-food systems.Design/methodology/approachThis is a theory-motivated literature study.FindingsThis paper argues that the concepts of multifunctionality and ecosystem services are unsuitable for considering the systemic complexities of today's food system in order to tackle its grave environmental and social problems. Furthermore, these two concepts tend to neglect the negative externalities of food systems and overemphasize the positive ones. The notion of just transition puts justice and sustainability at the center of agri-food studies and defines targeted systemic interventions in food systems.Originality/valueWhile the approach of just transition is only starting to be widely applied to the agriculture–food nexus, we argue that it is better suited to re-orient diets, production processes, the value chain and labor conditions in a more sustainable direction. The just transition approach is also useful in drafting systemic policy innovations.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2023-0740

Das globale Ernährungssystem ist für 26-34% der globalen Treibhausgasemissionen verantwortlich und trägt maßgeblich zu Biodiversitätsverlusten, Bodenerosion, Wasserverbrauch und Wasserverschmutzung bei. Der Lebensmitteleinzelhandel (LEH) hat eine zentrale Rolle im Ernährungssystem, da er sowohl die Lebensmittelproduktion als auch den Konsum wesentlich beeinflussen kann. Ziel des Projektes war es, zu bewerten, inwieweit die acht umsatzstärksten LEH-Unternehmen Deutschlands ihren Handlungsspielraum nutzen, um das Ernährungssystem umweltfreundlicher zu gestalten. Dafür hat das Projektteam diese acht Unternehmen gemäß eines Evaluationsrasters mit 22 Handlungsfeldern, 43 Indikatoren und 112 Subindikatoren bewertet. Die Bewertung bezog sich dabei auf das Jahr 2020. Die vorliegende Studie zeigt, dass alle acht untersuchten LEH-Unternehmen ihren Handlungsspielraum in den Bereichen Lieferkette, eigene Standorte und Konsum nur unzureichend nutzen. Zwar weisen einzelne Unternehmen besondere Leistungen in verschiedenen Handlungsfeldern auf. Diese sind jedoch nicht ausreichend, um ihren Beitrag zur notwendigen Transformation des Ernährungssystems zu leisten. Den Unternehmen empfiehlt das Projektteam deshalb, ihr Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement wesentlich systematischer und effektiver zu gestalten. Dazu gehört das Setzen von durchweg überprüfbaren Zielen zur ökologischen Nachhaltigkeit, die Investition in bessere Daten sowie die stärkere Verknüpfung des Nachhaltigkeitsmanagements mit Geschäftsführung, Einkauf und Category Management. Aus dem insgesamt nur mäßigen Abschneiden der Unternehmen schließt das Projektteam, dass die derzeitigen politischen Rahmenbedingungen geändert werden müssen, damit die LEH-Unternehmen ihre Umweltleistungen verbessern können, ohne wesentliche Wettbewerbsnachteile zu erleiden. Dafür braucht es einen wirksamen Politik-Mix aus regulatorischen Maßnahmen und finanziellen Anreizen. Neben allgemeinen Empfehlungen, wie der Internalisierung externer Effekte, empfehlen wir die wesentlichen Stellgrößen der Unternehmen zu adressieren; sowohl angebots- als auch nachfrageseitig. Dazu gehören die Einführung von Mindeststandards im Rohwareneinkauf und die Einschränkungen des Verkaufs von besonders umweltschädlichen Produkten, wie außerhalb der Saison eingeflogene Lebensmittel. Außerdem sollten Rahmenbedingungen gesetzt werden, um den Unternehmen eine transparente und vergleichbare Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung zu ermöglichen.

Increasing consumer awareness on sustainability issues has led to the growing adoption of voluntary sustainability standards in agriculture. This study assesses the sustainability performance of typical conventional and certified coffee production systems in Brazil and Ethiopia based on expert judgements. We apply the SMART-Farm Tool, which represents an operationalization of the SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems) framework of FAO. Data were collected through expert interviews and uncertainties were estimated using Monte-Carlo simulations. A higher sustainability performance of the certified systems was observed regarding product information (+37%) and transparency (+39%) in Ethiopia. In Brazil, the certified system showed a higher overall sustainability performance compared to the conventional system in the environmental dimension and in some social and governance aspects, e.g., gender equality (+49%) and public health (+36%). Geographical or political conditions and farm type also had a strong influence on the observed sustainability performance. Typical smallholder production systems in Ethiopian coffee production performed comparable in the environmental dimension since all were low-input systems due to economic constraints. The conventional Brazilian system showed a better performance concerning employment relations (+14%) and profitability (+13%), as compared to the certified Brazilian systems, because larger farms were more likely to employ permanent staff and benefit from economies of scale.

The agricultural sector faces serious environmental, social and economic challenges. In response, there has been a proliferation of labels and certifications aiming to ensure minimum farm sustainability performance. Organic agriculture (OA) a prominent example, having received substantial research attention relating to agronomic and environmental performance. While international OA movements are evolving to include broader sustainability aspirations, limited research exists on the social and economic performance of OA. To address this, we conducted a representative farm-based assessment of the Swiss organic sector to evaluate its contribution to sustainability across a wide range of themes based on the FAO Sustainability of Agriculture and Food Assessment (SAFA) Guidelines. We assessed 185 farms using the Sustainability Assessment and Monitoring RouTine (SMART) Farm Tool, chosen through stratified random sampling by farm type and agricultural zone. The results indicate that the Swiss organic sector makes a substantially positive contribution to sustainability, with average scores for theme goal achievement of 62% (Good Governance), 77% (Environmental Integrity), 70% (Economic Resilience), and 87% (Social Well-being). A set of 45 influential indicators (28 for plant production/mix farms and 30 for livestock farms) were selected based on the ability to explain variance (using Principal Component Analysis) and importance for goal achievement. The indicator sets explained a large amount of variation (ca. 70% for both farm types) and revealed a snapshot of management topics relevant to sustainability performance across the sector. These covered socio-political engagement, emissions to air and water, biodiversity, animal welfare, profitability, vulnerability, product quality, local economy, capacity building, and workplace risks. The spread of results across the sample, and comparisons to secondary data (literature and official statistics), revealed the importance of both well-studied issues (e.g., wide spread of energy consumption, variable yield levels/stability, local value chain dynamics) and more novel insights (e.g., strong political engagement, variable price premiums, lacking social security of farming families, insecure land tenure). We propose these topics as a basis for deeper analysis, designing improvement measures and conducting comparative research. This would bring much-needed breadth into the typically narrow debate surrounding the relative merits of OA.

Aufbauend auf das Instrument von 2022, mit dem die ökologische Nachhaltigkeitsperformance des Lebensmitteleinzelhandels bewertet wurde, wurden diesmal auch die Nachhaltigkeitsdimensionen "Soziales" und "Tierwohl" in die Bewertung integriert. Mit insgesamt 23 Handlungsfeldern, 90 Indikatoren und 112 Subindikatoren wurden die Nachhaltigkeitsaktivitäten des Lebensmitteleinzelhandels-Unternehmen Lieferkette, eigene Standorte und Verbraucherkommunikation systematisch erfasst und eingeordnet.

This paper is based on results from the research project UNISECO, which is funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 773901.We would like to thank all the farmers, farm organisations and stakeholders of the multi-actor platforms of the UNISECO project who contributed to the data collection. We also like to thank Andreas Basler whose corrections improved the comprehensibility of the paper. ; Peer reviewed ; Publisher PDF