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The purpose of this paper is to determine if the agribusiness sector can be an initiator of export on the emerging markets. For this aim, we analyzed export opportunities for the region of Vojvodina, the region in Serbia with the most potential for agribusiness.

This paper uses the Comparative Advantage Index and the Index of Intra-industrial Integration to determine the region's level of comparative advantage and the market's level of integration on the main emerging markets.

The results show that this region has the most competitive advantages in crop production – primarily in cereals and industrial plants – but the situation is not favorable for livestock production. Because of this, comparative advantage should be used as a factor for the growth of competitiveness in the sectors for which crop products are the raw material base. At the same time, agricultural policy measures should encourage more intensive agricultural production, which could create a better foundation for progress in the food industry.

Data collected on foreign trade at the level of statistical regions is not always reliable. Also, regional and local characteristics are specific to each country, so the ability to generalize conclusions is limited.

This paper provides a useful review of the agri-food sector's competitiveness and determines which agri-food segments have competitive advantages. It is essential for policymakers to identify what determinants improve or degrade the competitiveness of the region's agri-food sector.

Since there are a limited number of studies analyzing trends of competitiveness for the region's agri-food sector, the paper will contribute to filling this gap. Furthermore, the framework is conceptually innovative in identifying the determinants that create export opportunities for the region on the international market.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact that slow growth in staple food productivity can have on the process of structural change and, more importantly, on the development of labor intensive industry.

A theory of a semi-open economy is developed to analyze the role of staple food productivity on structural change. A case study is used to illustrate the workings of the model.

Slow growth in food staple productivity will mean that even when labor is physically abundant, it will not be economically cheap. Thus it will be extremely difficult to promote the expansion of labor intensive manufacturing. The key to rapid structural change is rapid growth in food staple productivity.

Investment in raising agricultural productivity is critical in the development of labor intensive manufacturing.

Rapid growth can occur without leading to structural change. The bulk of the population remains locked in the rural sector.

The food sector is shown to be largely non-tradable. As a result solving the food problem domestically is crucial for structural change and economic development. Labor intensive manufacturing needs relatively cheap labor. For labor to be cheap, agricultural productivity (food staples) must rise rapidly.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first is to examine in detail energy efficiency performance of German and Colombian food industries. The second is to explain the factors that have influenced energy efficiency.

Using data at the three‐digit level of aggregation, the paper compares energy efficiency across sectors of the food industry for the period 1998‐2005. Energy efficiency is analysed using the energy intensity (EI) indicator as well as a decomposition analysis. To determine the factors that have influenced energy efficiency performance, the concept of the production function is used.

The results show that both countries' food industries improved energy efficiency. During the period of study, energy consumption in the German food industry increased by an average of 1.3 per cent per year and the EI decreased 7 per cent, whereas the Colombian food industry decreased its energy consumption by an average of 1.9 per cent per the year and the EI decreased 11 per cent. However, the Colombian food industry needs 2.2 times more energy than the German food industry to produce a unit of gross production. A decomposition analysis indicated that economic and technical factors have played an important role in the energy efficiency performance because increases in economic growth and technology improvements increase the industrial sector's ability to improve energy efficiency. A second‐stage empirical analysis reveals that capital, material, investments and value‐added variables had a positive influence on energy efficiency performance in both countries. Energy prices are shown to have a positive influence on energy efficiency in the German food industry, whereas the sizes of enterprises and concentration processes played an important role on energy efficiency performance in the Colombian food industry.

The literature indicates the relative lack of attention paid to the analysis of energy use across sectors of food industry as well as the lack of studies determining the factors that have affected energy consumption and energy efficiency performance using cross‐country and cross‐sectoral comparisons.

This study examines the performance of India's food processing sector by estimating its output growth, technical efficiency (TE) and input-driven growth (IDG)

This study used panel data from six food processing manufacturing industries for the period 2000–01 to 2017–18. Technical efficiency and input-driven growth was measured using the parametric half-normal stochastic frontier production function.

The findings of this study showed that the estimated average technical efficiency is 86.6%, which specifies that the Indian food processing sector is technically inefficient. In addition, the output growth rate is 5.5%, driven by high doses of inputs (5.7%), whereas there is no indication of constant returns to scale. However, the food processing sector has experienced more input-driven expansion than either technological or efficiency changes.

This study is limited to India's organized manufacturing food processing sector; the aggregate macro data at a three-digit level based on the national industrial classification (NIC) was used. This study provides robust estimates for industrialists and processors, as well as concrete policy formulations on how overdoses of inputs may lead to high exploitation of resources, whereas outputs can be augmented by implementing upgraded and new technologies.

Previous research has estimated the total factor productivity and technical efficiency only in order to analyze the food sector's performance, but none of the studies have evaluated the share of inputs in growth performance and efficiency. Therefore, this study contributes by measuring growth performance and the share of inputs in the growth performance of India's food processing sector.

The authors explore the market agora and the shaping of markets as controversies over the meaning and practices related to sustainability evolved. This study aims to explore what happened in a market-oriented policy regime, which aimed to address sustainability in farming and food, to assess the impact of the policy on the vegetable sector in England and to consider whether the market-oriented policy regime created a more sustainable food system for Britain.

The authors examined policy documents – agenda setting reports, policy frameworks and operational plans – and conducted interviews with experts – including policymakers, agronomists and the growers themselves, from across this heterogeneous production sector.

The authors found that while controversy over the meaning of sustainability impacted on the evolution of food policy and grower business practices, market conceptualisations remained in a doxic mode – naturalised and beyond dispute throughout the market agora.

This is a study of a single sub-sector of the fruit and vegetable sector in a single European country and over a particular period of time. It presents a detailed, authentic representation of that sub-sector in context and diverse information sources were used to gain a variety of perspectives. However, it is acknowledged that this is a limited, qualitative study involving relatively few key informant interviews.

The authors’ explanation suggests that market doxa limited how policymakers and market agora understood the economic challenges and the solutions that could be deployed for English vegetable growers, a sector so pivotal for sustainability. The authors propose that ideas from industrial marketing can be used to reignite controversy, challenge market doxa, and in doing so create space for progress in creating sustainable markets.

The authors deploy an approach advocated by Blanchet and Depeyre (2016) and use controversy to explore the evolution of policy for sustainability and market shaping in the English vegetable sector agora. In doing so the authors create a novel explanation of why policy, which aimed to usher in a sustainable market, fell short of its aims and contribute to an under-researched area examining policy for sustainability in a B2B context.

“Local food” is attracting considerable policy and public interest, but evidence is lacking about the emerging contours of the local food sector. This paper offers a preliminary assessment of the local food sector in the county of Gloucestershire. Based on interviews with farmers and retailers, it investigates the scope of local food production in the county, assesses the nature of the local food chain and considers the potential of local food production and marketing for adding value for the various actors in the chain, from producer to retailer. Questions are raised in the conclusion about the coherence and sustainability of the local food sector in the county given the differences in the ways in which producers and retailers construct “local” and some unintended consequences of the efforts to promote local food.

The growing awareness of climate risks associated with food safety issues has drawn the attention of stakeholders urging the food industry to carry out a sustainable food safety management system (FSMS). This study aims to investigate whether the critical success factors (CSFs) of sustainable FSMS can contribute to achieving climate neutrality, and how the adoption of FSMS 4.0 supported by the Industry Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) technologies moderates the impact of the CSFs on achieving climate neutrality.

Survey data from 255 food production firms in China and Vietnam were utilised for the empirical analysis. The research hypotheses were examined using structural equations modelling (SEM) with route analysis and bootstrapping techniques.

The results show that top management support, human resource management, infrastructure and integration appear as the significant CSFs that directly impact food production firms in achieving climate neutrality. Moreover, the results demonstrate that the adoption of FSMS 4.0 integrated with the three components (ecosystems, quality standards and robustness) significantly moderates the impact of the CSFs on achieving climate neutrality with lower inputs in human resources, infrastructure investment, integration and external assistance, and higher inputs in strengthening food safety administration.

This study provides empirical findings that fill the research gap in understanding the relationship between climate neutrality and the CSFs of sustainable FSMS while considering the moderating effects of the FSMS 4.0 components. The results provide theoretical and practical insights into how the food production sector can utilise IR 4.0 to attain sustainable FSMS for achieving climate neutrality.

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of current traceability systems in five food sectors: dairy, fish, red meat, fruit and vegetable, and grain. Products were bought within Norway, with national and international origins.

The method used structured interviews and questionnaires at each link in the production and supply chain of 30 products in order to discover the ability to identify the origin of product, the size of batches used during production, the potential product and process information available and the estimated time of recall in an emergency situation.

The results showed that it was possible to trace 53 percent of the products bought through their supply chains to their origin. The results demonstrated that mixing transformations create challenges for traceability that are more severe than other types of transformations. Company motivation is an important factor in creating the conditions for a successful tracing event.

The study presents findings that can be used by the food producing industry and regulators that will aid in improving the ability to track and trace food effectively. This will aid the food producing industry in providing society with better food information so that consumers can make informed choices.

This study presents data on multi sector traceability, which is not only valuable because of its uniqueness, but also because of the possibility to use this in future studies for comparison and measurement of progress. This study is highly valuable to food producing industries, regulators and researchers as it presents new and unique data, regarding recall times and sector specific challenges.

Stakeholders all over the European Union (EU), including academics, local and national authorities, business representatives, civil society, and the EU institutions are interested in creating a better life for citizens inhabiting rural areas. Building up on previous successful policies, including for instance the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and political actions, such as those outlined in the Cork 2.0 Declaration, these stakeholders assessed the current and future challenges of EU rural areas. The EU agri-food sector is not only the backbone of the EU rural areas but it is also a driver of the EU economy, that is, delivering 44 million jobs in the EU and representing 3.7% of EU GDP. The EU is thus the world’s number one exporter of agricultural and food products amounting to 138 billion, in 2017.

Today, the technological progress and the digital economy are transforming the EU economy in a way and speed never seen before; agriculture and food production are no exception. Obviously, the agriculture and the food production activities may have less obvious significance to the smart city but are key in the smart village concept. The ongoing technological transformation of agriculture will certainly enable and influence the design and implementation of any concept of smart villages. The question is therefore complex: How can agriculture and food production contribute and influence the smart villages concept and related policy strategies? This chapter dwells on this issue.

This paper examines the relevance of Public-Private-Community Partnerships (PPCPs) as an alternative mechanism in enhancing food security during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond in Zimbabwe. It also draws attention to the complexities of adopting PPCPs, and proposes possible options to improve their effectiveness.

The study applied concurrent mixed research methods. The sample population comprised multiple stakeholders in the area of food security and agricultural financing in Zimbabwe. The research adopted purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data were collected through questionnaire, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and documentary analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative data, while qualitative data analysis was conducted thematically.

Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity was a consistent challenge in Zimbabwe. The pandemic has worsened the situation by further disruption of food systems and limiting people's access to food. PPCPs could be feasible alternative as they enhance value chain collaboration, improve access to inputs, reduce information asymmetry, ensure trust and facilitate risk sharing. PPCPs require proper design, control of transaction costs, clear definition of partners' roles, fair risk sharing, trust, and flexibility.

PPCPs are yet to be adopted in the Zimbabwean agricultural sector. The research informs policymakers on the need to implement multi-stakeholder collaborations in food production.