The Unanticipated Promise of Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains

Abstract

The current focus on sustainability in food production has had the the unintended benefit of solving the biggest problems in the agri-food system. Stretching from input providers through farmers and retailers to the final consumer, the agricultural supply chain throughout time has been plagued by twin problems of information and investment. Information from the market has not flowed from the primary producer due to fragmentation, poor cooperation, and transactional – and often adversarial – relationships between farmers, processors and retailers. Financial incentives and investment capital have also failed to move through the chain as actors compete to reduce costs for retailers, who have sold consumers on the idea that lowest price equals highest value.