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Increased urbanization rates pose crucial challenges in terms of food systems’ sustainability, including urban food waste (FW). The global narrative around FW has focused mainly on Western countries, but recent evidence shows that FW is also a major issue in the developing world. The objective of this article is to define the characteristics and drivers of urban FW in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). We firstly present a tailor-made three-step approach to identify urban FW hotspots in LMIC, understand the main drivers and design and implement prevention and reduction interventions considering LMIC food system characteristics. We then draw on results from four different urban FW case studies based in Nairobi (Kenya) and Dhaka (Bangladesh) and discuss their characteristics in light of the proposed approach. The case of Nairobi focuses on quantifying and understanding possible drivers of household FW in Kibera and characterizing FW disposal through a household survey (N = 774). The other three studies examine FW at retail, food service and institutional levels for onions, mangoes and beef in Dhaka. The results confirm that FW happens at the urban supply chain level, particularly among mobile vendors but also among households living below the poverty line. The article thus urges LMIC municipalities to consider urban FW strategies as a key action to tackle food security, environmental issues and FW management challenges.

Food loss and waste is a major problem: An estimated one-third of all food produced worldwide is lost or wasted somewhere between farm and fork. Mitigating food loss and waste is an important pathway towards accessible and healthy diets, more sustainable production and consumption, and more economic possibilities for actors in the food chain. General recommendations abound on how to achieve this, but implementation of these ideas in real-world food systems is rarely straightforward. In this volume, experts from numerous domains explore how high-level FLW recommendations can be translated into concrete actions, solutions, and pathways. The chapters highlight (new) scientific insights and practice-oriented research pointing the way forward from what should happen to how it can be done in order to achieve more sustainable food systems.

This report is a compilation of a workshop sessions held with stakeholders engaged in a foresight and scenario develop process to develop a Dhaka Food Agenda 2041. The report describes the rationale and the different steps undertaken in the process as well as its outputs. Stakeholders have interacted and explored the Dhaka Metropolitan food system and discussed the linkages between issues in the domain of food and nutrition security, food safety, food loss and waste, fresh markets and value chains. In terms of output they have deliberated that one of the major uncertainties is the shift in diets of citizens related to the uncertainty of having thriving small and sustainable businesses versus big- companies (supermarketisation). The participants developed different scenarios and their narratives that are varying from least to most desirable situation. The workshops have led to evidence and dialogue on the needs and opportunities to aim for a sustainable and inclusive food system in Dhaka in 2041. In conclusion, the report presents the steps that will follow the scoping, mapping, analysis of drivers and trends and the scenario development feeding into the further development of the Dhaka Food Agenda 2041.

This paper is focused on intervention scenarios for smallholder potato value chains in Kenya that improve yields, reduce losses, minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase economic performance and food security. For that, business models and GHG emission estimates are developed, based on the existing data, combined with relevancy and time-to-impact analysis using practical real-life information from stakeholders in the potato sector, which is the second largest agricultural crop in Kenya after maize. The results show that profitability, environmental improvement and food security can go hand in hand with realistic short-term interventions for potato production at smallholder farms.

The refrigerated (‘reefer’) container market and cold logistics chains creates opportunities as well as challenges for seaports. This high-value market grows rapidly, but places stringent demands on seaports’ logistics processes, infrastructure, and energy provision. This study addresses the question how port authorities address the challenges and in this dynamic market environment. While previous research has outlined developments in port governance paradigms and the strategic scope of port authorities, the academic literature still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the policy options available to port authorities to respond to arising challenges and opportunities. To provide this missing understanding, this study presents a new dataset of policies, implemented by world’s 50 largest container ports, addressing reefer transportation and cold chain logistics. Policy measures are classified according to content, goals and scope. The findings from this worldwide comparative analysis illustrate that port authorities often pursue policies extending far beyond their traditional ‘landlord’ responsibility. Most commonly still, the scope of port policy is limited to the port cluster, where ports (co)-invest in or aim for cluster formation around cold stores. When a port extends its strategic scope towards its foreland or hinterland, this is usually aligned with policy goals formulated at higher levels of governance, such as modal shift goals or the development of domestic post-harvest distribution systems. There is however little evidence of coherent and comprehensive cold chain strategies, addressing the logistics, marketing, technology, and sustainability dimensions. The paper outlines the general tenets such a strategy should contain as a consideration for policymakers.

The refrigerated (‘reefer’) container market and cold logistics chains creates opportunities as well as challenges for seaports. This high-value market grows rapidly, but places stringent demands on seaports’ logistics processes, infrastructure, and energy provision. This study addresses the question how port authorities address the challenges and in this dynamic market environment. While previous research has outlined developments in port governance paradigms and the strategic scope of port authorities, the academic literature still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the policy options available to port authorities to respond to arising challenges and opportunities. To provide this missing understanding, this study presents a new dataset of policies, implemented by world’s 50 largest container ports, addressing reefer transportation and cold chain logistics. Policy measures are classified according to content, goals and scope. The findings from this worldwide comparative analysis illustrate that port authorities often pursue policies extending far beyond their traditional ‘landlord’ responsibility. Most commonly still, the scope of port policy is limited to the port cluster, where ports (co)-invest in or aim for cluster formation around cold stores. When a port extends its strategic scope towards its foreland or hinterland, this is usually aligned with policy goals formulated at higher levels of governance, such as modal shift goals or the development of domestic post-harvest distribution systems. There is however little evidence of coherent and comprehensive cold chain strategies, addressing the logistics, marketing, technology, and sustainability dimensions. The paper outlines the general tenets such a strategy should contain as a consideration for policymakers.

The refrigerated (‘reefer’) container market and cold logistics chains creates opportunities as well as challenges for seaports. This high-value market grows rapidly, but places stringent demands on seaports’ logistics processes, infrastructure, and energy provision. This study addresses the question how port authorities address the challenges and in this dynamic market environment. While previous research has outlined developments in port governance paradigms and the strategic scope of port authorities, the academic literature still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the policy options available to port authorities to respond to arising challenges and opportunities. To provide this missing understanding, this study presents a new dataset of policies, implemented by world’s 50 largest container ports, addressing reefer transportation and cold chain logistics. Policy measures are classified according to content, goals and scope. The findings from this worldwide comparative analysis illustrate that port authorities often pursue policies extending far beyond their traditional ‘landlord’ responsibility. Most commonly still, the scope of port policy is limited to the port cluster, where ports (co)-invest in or aim for cluster formation around cold stores. When a port extends its strategic scope towards its foreland or hinterland, this is usually aligned with policy goals formulated at higher levels of governance, such as modal shift goals or the development of domestic post-harvest distribution systems. There is however little evidence of coherent and comprehensive cold chain strategies, addressing the logistics, marketing, technology, and sustainability dimensions. The paper outlines the general tenets such a strategy should contain as a consideration for policymakers., Transport and Logistics

The refrigerated (or ‘reefer’) container market grows rapidly. Researchers and sector stakeholders increasingly realize that this container market segment has its distinct dynamics and demands. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the reefer container sector, its most important characteristics and trends, and a systematic review of the academic literature on reefer containers and logistics. First the authors outline the characteristics, composition, and development of the reefer container market, showing its growth through modal shift (from conventional reefer ships and airfreight) and differentiation into new cargo markets and niche services. Secondly the authors outline reefer chains in terms of their relevant stages, stakeholders, and processes. Data on insurance claims shows that cold chain failure and cargo loss not only occur due to technical failures, but just as often due to organizational errors – especially due to hold-up risk at container transfer points. Thirdly the authors map the present knowledge on reefer containers and reefer transportation through a systematic literature review. The current body of research on reefer containers consists mostly of highly specialized, technical studies on product characteristics and quality preservation, monitoring and control, refrigeration technology, and temperature management. While technological advances in these fields have largely enabled the containerization of cold logistics chains, the first sections of this paper also highlight that many current pressing issues in reefer transportation are logistical and organizational in nature. Therefore, the authors propose a research agenda addressing these overlooked aspects, including supply chain coordination issues and implications of reefer market developments for port policy., Transport and Logistics

Strategic alliances in the container shipping sector, and requirements imposed by consolidated hinterland modalities such as trains and barges, have resulted in container terminals facing increasing pressures to cooperate to handle increasingly intertwined container flows. However, concession agreements and market conditions often also pressure terminals to compete. This paper aims to help understand how pressures for competition and cooperation conflict, what problems this causes, what drives these tensions, and how these can be resolved. The drivers of port competitiveness are generally conceptualized as straightforward criteria related to costs, efficiency, location, and infrastructure. Because of the focus on these ‘hard’, quantifiable factors, the qualitative relational underpinnings of port performance are often overlooked. This paper explores how inter-organizational relations function as a major underpinning of port performance and competitiveness. Interviews with a representative selection of stakeholders in the Port of Rotterdam reveal the problems that can occur when cooperation between terminals is under pressure. These problems relate to deficiencies in inter-organizational relationships, which do not tend to arise spontaneously in a competitive context. This paper provides a framework that helps understand how firms can simultaneously balance pressures for competition and imperatives for cross-firm integration and cooperation. Several technical and organizational solutions are suggested, but effective implementation depends on various tacit factors – including trust, shared values, and a sense of community – that determine stakeholders’ willingness to commit and cooperate.

Driven by global climate concerns, seaports have formulated sustainability goals, which also require sustainability gains in the fast growing temperature-controlled logistics market—increasing energy eciency, reducing waste, and streamlining logistics processes. This, however, requires cooperation and buy-in from a wide range of stakeholders. To explore the barriers and facilitators of such a transition, we map the interests and attitudes of cold chain actors in the Port of Rotterdam regarding sustainability issues in reefer transportation and cold chains. We identify a limited number of broadly shared perspectives using Q-methodology—a survey-based method to study subjective viewpoints (originating from psychology) that has been used only rarely in the freight transport field. The analysis yields four ‘dominant’ perspectives that together account for 46% of the variation among stakeholder viewpoints. We label these perspectives “sustainability as part of strategy”, “short term constraints”, “optimistic about technology, limited role for policy”, and “long run willingness under risk avoidance.” These perspectives are characterized by multiple factors, including the evaluation of organizational capabilities, expectations from policymakers and technology, and the time horizon stakeholder organizations consider regarding sustainability concerns. From the findings, we derive recommendations for managers and policy makers to facilitate stakeholder dialogue and possibly convergence and coalition building.