Holistic approaches to assess the sustainability of food systems in low- and middle-income countries : a scoping review

2024

Article

Fourat E., Blanchart Eric, Cué Rio Miriam, Darias Maria Jose, Diedhiou Arona, Droy Isabelle, Jacob Frédéric, Janin Pierre, Le Bars Marjorie, Lourme-Ruiz A., Mekki I., Méral Philippe, Moiti-Maizi P., Seghieri Josiane, Verger Eric

PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, 2024, 3 (7), e0000117 [14 p.] ISSN 2767-3197

Food systems and their sustainability have been extensively studied in high-income countries (HICs), yet less so in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), despite their importance for global food security. In this study, we conducted a systematic scoping review to describe the extent, range, and nature of peer-reviewed literature assessing the sustainability performance of food systems in LMICs. The review revealed a recent and heterogeneous literature. From this diversity, 3 archetypes of epistemological approaches emerged, classified by their purpose: observational, modeling, and transformative. All 3 approaches apply existing or tailored methods to specifically study food systems, and their objectives are to observe, model, or transform different parts of the food systems towards sustainability. Gaps in the literature include inconsistent definitions of food systems and frameworks and understudied drivers of food systems sustainability. Therefore, the development of a comprehensive and systematic inventory of frameworks and their sustainability is crucial to determine the most suitable interdisciplinary methodologies for specific contexts and generate actionable knowledge for food systems transformation.

Environnement, écologie générale [021ENVECO] ; Revenu, salaire, pouvoir d'achat [094CONSO] ; Agriculture, système de production, machinisme agricole [098AGRIC] ; Système alimentaire [098SYSAL]

Fonds IRD [F B010091547]

fdi:010091547