Redesign of adaptive value chain networks for Food and Nutrition Security (KB-22-002-004)

Making food value chains more sustainable requires a balance between satisfying the demand for food on the one hand and the availability of resources and the means of production on the other hand. Comparative assessments have to be taken on chain level leading to an optimal performance in terms of resource use efficiency ( ‘doing things right’) and resource effectiveness (‘doing the right things’). Formal models can give insights into the effects that decisions by chain actors within their own chain elements have on the chain as a whole. Models also help to render implicit assumptions explicit. This allows for the design and evaluation of (new) business models based on the optimalization of the total chain result (as opposed to the optimalization of an individual operating result.

This project will lead to the development of several components for a model giving insights into the efficiency of use of resources and means of production in specific scenarios. Food security and valorization of sidestreams are important limiting conditions.