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

Holistic approaches to assess the sustainability of food systems in low- and middle-income countries : a scoping review Fourat E. auteur aut IRD Blanchart Eric auteur aut IRD Cué Rio Miriam auteur aut IRD Darias Maria J. auteur aut IRD Diedhiou Arona auteur aut IRD Droy Isabelle auteur aut IRD Jacob Frédéric auteur aut IRD Janin Pierre auteur aut IRD Le Bars Marjorie auteur aut IRD Lourme-Ruiz A. auteur aut IRD Mekki I. auteur aut IRD Méral Philippe auteur aut IRD Moiti-Maizi P. auteur aut IRD Seghieri Josiane auteur aut IRD Verger Eric auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access 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. specialized 098SYSAL 098AGRIC 094CONSO 021ENVECO PLOS Sustainability and Transformation 3 7 e0000117 [14 ] 2024 2767-3197 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010091547 10.1371/journal.pstr.0000117 2767-3197 [F B010091547] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010091547 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2024-08/010091547.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2024-07-29 2025-11-06 fdi:010091547 fre