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Appropriate waste generation and management is becoming increasingly important in making food systems more sustainable. It is, therefore, imperative to both reduce waste generation and sustainably manage the waste that cannot be reduced. However, this is challenging due to the heterogeneity of waste materials, the high economic costs of optimizing food systems and the low awareness of the issue in some societies. This article analyzes three case studies that explore improvements in waste management in the food sector in Europe, Africa and Asia. The case studies focus on a horticultural cooperative in Spain, a seafood company in Tunisia and municipal waste management in Hong Kong, highlighting different challenges and approaches. Key factors for horticultural waste management include a consistent regulatory framework, appropriate management systems and waste traceability. The article also highlights the potential for valorisation of waste products, such as blue crab by-products, which can be used to obtain polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, antioxidants, flavonoids, vitamins and minerals. A shift from landfill to anaerobic digestion is also recommended for a more sustainable waste management. By identifying and quantifying waste streams and problematic waste types, alternative solutions can be developed to improve the sustainability of the global food supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to translate consumer requirements regarding olive-oil quality attributes into specific olive-growing practices that most contribute to satisfy these attributes.Design/methodology/approach After identifying consumer requirements or needs regarding different attributes of olive-oil quality, through a survey of 439 olive-oil consumers, the authors determine the olive-growing practices that optimally satisfy consumer needs through expert opinions. Finally, the use of expert knowledge to construct the House of Quality or the first matrix of quality function deployment allow the authors to define the relative contribution of the various olive-farming practices to the satisfaction of consumer requirements.Findings The findings have shown that the olive-oil quality attributes most requested by consumers incorporate organoleptic (e.g. acidity, flavour, colour), sociocultural (e.g. creating employment in rural areas, maintenance of the rural population) and environmental ones (environmental externalities). The “separation of olives collected from ground and trees” (separation), “timing of harvesting” (according to a fruit-ripeness index), the “method of the ground harvest” (no picking from the ground), and the “method of tree harvest” (handpicking) were some of the most commonly identified olive-farming practices that contribute the most to meeting consumers’ needs with regard to olive-oil quality.Research limitations/implications The study suggests detailed analyses of the relationships between customer requirements and other agents practices involved in the olive sector (processing industries: mills, distribution, and marketing management, etc.) to more fully investigate the impact of all these practices on consumers’ perceived olive-oil quality attributes. This is the most reliable way to guarantee that the most sought-after quality characteristics are taken into account, not only in the farming stage but also in the various different stages of the olive agri-food chain.Practical implications Findings represent an opportunity in the market value chain to develop a quality olive oil which is more oriented towards the consumer and able to face future segmentations in the market. This is one of the main innovative features of this study, as it offers “good practice” guidelines to agents of the olive-oil sector from the consumer perspective.Social implications This study provides positive implications to consumers, providing them important tools to make an informed choice, and producers and marketers helping the design of production strategies to optimally satisfy the consumer preference with regard to olive-oil quality, and attain a competitive advantage by adding value to the product.Originality/value This paper is regarded as the pioneer in the literature translating the “consumer voice” regarding olive-oil quality into specific olive-growing practices “good-practices guidelines”. Thus, the relevant required quality olive-oil attributes should be clearly described on the label, to enable consumers to identify the quality features and make an informed choice. Furthermore, to meet consumers’ needs, the olive-oil sector should focus on the olive-growing practices that optimally satisfy consumer requirements concerning olive-oil quality attributes. This would help to improve legitimacy and boost public support for the Common Agricultural Policy subsidies for the agricultural sector in general, and the olive sector in particular. The findings are particularly valuable in helping policy makers to design marketing strategies to improve the sustainability and competitiveness of Spanish olive oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The competitiveness of the olive agrofood sector depends heavily on its ability to adapt to the current scenario of increasingly internationalized interchanges, segmentation of markets, differentiation of consumption behaviors, and changing public support for agriculture. Quality differentiation and certification through a Certified Quality System (CQS) ensure the quality of products and services beyond mandatory levels and generate a competitive advantage for certified firms. In the Andalusian olive-growing sector, the largest in the world, integrated production (IP) plays an important role. IP certifies a higher quality of the product and production process by guaranteeing the implementation of farming practices that are hypothetically more sustainable, environmentally friendly, profitable, fair for farmers, and healthy for consumers. This paper investigates the underlying factors that have conditioned the diffusion of IP and tries to confirm the differential and higher quality provided by this CQS. A survey of 400 farmers from the main olive-growing provinces of Andalusia was carried out in 2010/2011 on the basis of face-to-face interviews following a structured questionnaire. The results corroborate low levels of knowledge and adoption of most of the available CQSs in the sector. They also confirm the higher quality of IP olive products and processes since farmers adopting this CQS are implementing better farming practices from an agronomic, environmental and economic point of view. The better practices are especially those related to soil management, irrigation, phytosanitation and harvesting. Otherwise, olive farmers in general seem to be entrenched in a relatively closed information system where ‘contagion’ of information among themselves and from close sources is the main diffusion driver, with no significant influence from external sources such as public and private R&D institutions. Moreover, a lack of orientation of farmers toward satisfying customers’ requirements when innovating was detected. Strengthening the diffusion of IP would require bringing information closer to farmers in an accessible manner. The work of R&D institutions is essential in this context. Special emphasis should be placed on the medium- to long-term economic benefits and improved competitiveness associated with IP, these being the main concerns of farmers. Improved access to credit would also probably encourage its adoption. It is also necessary to convince farmers of the environmental and social benefits associated with IP. Reinforcing public policies promoting the professionalization of the sector and training in marketing are also necessary measures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sustainable agriculture refers to farming systems with economic, social, and environmental viability that must respond to citizens' interests and concerns. However, European citizens are not satisfied with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) due to misinterpretation of their preferences. Because of this, the European agricultural model's long-term viability is being questioned, especially after the European Commission's CAP proposals in 2011. This paper examines European agriculture's potential sustainability with regard to citizens' preferences. First, focus groups and the Analytic Hierarchy Process are used to identify and quantify southern Spanish citizens' preferences for farming. Second, socio-demographic features and opinions that determine preferences towards agriculture are studied by a multinomial logit model and a cluster analysis. A comparison is made between citizens' preferences and the CAP aims because the CAP aims address all European farming. The main results indicate that agricultural economic, environmental, and social functions are equally important to the respondents in our study, even though the CAP prioritizes the economic ones. However, some citizen groups agree with the agricultural model designed by the CAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, since the 1990s, food safety crises have heightened public concerns about and distrust towards the agro-food sector, making consumers wary of genetically modified (GM) foods. The application of gene technology to agricultural production has become a highly controversial scientific, political and social issue due to the uncertainty about the potential risks and benefits from GM food consumption. In this regard, public views influence consumers' demands and hence determine the future of this technology's development. Biotechnology proponents attribute the current consumer resistance to GM foods to the lack of tangible benefits for the consumers with higher functional properties. Thus, this paper estimates consumers' preferences regarding GM foods by simulating a market for GM functional cornflakes in southern Spain using the conjoint analysis method. Additionally, market segmentation was performed using a cluster analysis and the consumers' profile differences for each segment were identified. The main results indicate that consumers prefer the GM-free food; nonetheless, the market segmentation distinguishes a potential market niche for GM foods and indicates that businesses can develop strategies to target these segments. Therefore, the marketing strategies implemented in southern Spain should be focused on the health functional claims of second generation GM food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

its beginning, the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) did not include measures to guide farmers in preserving ecosystems. At the same time, the social context on the 1960s and 1970s did not encourage environmental care to become a priority. Since the 1980s, new social concern expressed alarm over ecology, recognizing that agriculture can pollute. These social changes moved the CAP to add measures that linked agriculture and environment. In order to study if the EU decision-makers have designed a CAP which responds to a new ethic that incorporates environmental care and social demands, two questions rise: whether the social image of agriculture as a polluting activity has changed; and whether farming performs the environmental functions demanded by society. To answer the previous questions, we have reviewed the environmental aspects added to the CAP, then a poll has been conducted and cluster method and classification tree models have been used to group respondents according to their opinions. The results show that the society ascribes great relevance to the environment for the future sustainability of the region, but they are not satisfied with the role of agriculture in producing environmental outputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mountainous Mediterranean areas, even at high elevations, the landscapes are generally strongly transformed by humans. Agriculture is a key factor in this because, until very recent times, farming has been the main occupation of its inhabitants and has dominated their history and culture. This study examines the evolution of agroecosystems in the Alpujarra Alta (a set of mountain valleys and ravines, located in south-eastern Spain, within the Penibetic Range), from the Neolithic revolution and the Roman period until the present emphasizing the eight centuries under Muslim rule and the serious agrarian crisis induced by the expulsion of the Moorish from the area in the last third of the 16th century. This provoked profound transformations leading to the so-called "evolved farming system" in the early nineteenth century. This system continued until the middle of the twentieth century, when a massive rural exodus, prompted by the industrialization of the country, made farming unfeasible, triggering a phase of gradual system degradation. Finally, the current situation is discussed, resulting from the degradation of the established system as well as from new opportunities arising from the processes of endogenous local development induced in the area during the last quarter of a century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]