Abstract
Global food supply chains remain critical drivers of ecosystem degradation and social injustices. In this Perspective we invite policymakers, civil society actors, businesses and researchers to direct attention to the middle of global supply chains, where various actors—referred to as ‘midstream actors’—operate between agricultural commodity producers and manufacturers of food products. We highlight the power of this less visible segment (spanning multinational trading houses to small-scale aggregators of commodities) and the potential leverage that can be harnessed to improve supply chain and food system sustainability. Not engaging these actors poses a risk to the impact of supply chain policy.
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Acknowledgements
We extend our gratitude for the shared insights and knowledge offered by all participants in this overarching project, including Antonin, N. Adubofour, T. Agyarko-Kwarteng, T. Bartley, R. Besong, B. Cashore, K. Cavallin, B. Cisneros, C. Cutler, P. Dauvergne, S. Dieng Ndeye, T. Dietz, C. Ehrensperger, L. Fransen, B. Guyton, K. Halle, L. Kamphuis, J. Kehoe, T. Kodjane, E. Lambin, S. Ng, K. Nolte Ferguson, C. Ortiz, J.-A. Ponce, S. Ponte, P. Schleifer, M. Serdijn, V. Semelkova, M. Tampe, O. Tichit and M. Wong. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the University of Victoria and its Centre for Global Studies, as well as the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, who supported this project via an SSHRC Connection Grant.
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Conceptualization was by J.G. and S.C. Methodology was by S.C., J.G. and S.S. Investigation was by J.G., S.C., K.J., M.A.A., M.A.C., G.C., A.C., J.D., E.K.H.J.z.E., R.D.G., J.L.-W., M.M., E.S., S.S. and I.N. Writing (original draft) was by J.G. and S.C. Writing (review and editing) was by K.J., M.A.A., M.A.C., G.C., A.C., J.D., E.K.H.J.z.E., R.D.G., J.L.-W., M.M., I.N. and S.S. Visualization was by J.G. Funding acquisition was by S.C. and J.G.
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Grabs, J., Carodenuto, S., Jespersen, K. et al. The role of midstream actors in advancing the sustainability of agri-food supply chains. Nat Sustain (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01296-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01296-9