System Dynamics Updates of FAO Methodological Guide to Understand the Food Supply and Distribution Systems (FSDS) in developing and transition countries

摘要

What should be the policy to meet urban food needs in developing countries and those in transition? Is the main question of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), posed into the "FAO's methodological and operational guide to study and understand Food Supply and Distribution Systems (FSDS) to cities in developing countries and countries in transition" (Aragrande and Argenti, 2001), in order face the current overwhelming increase of urban population and the increasing urbanization pressures on food systems. The System Dynamics Italian Chapter has been assigned to lead the FAO's methodological update for FSDS using complex system methodologies. We argue that clarifying the several problems and structure behind FSDS in urban environments is vital to assess policies that aim at meeting urban food needs. Thus, the aim of this work is to improve FSDS understanding by addressing the limitations of the current "FAO's methodological and operational guide to study FSDS" or what is called in this paper "FAO's Framework for FSDS Analysis" (FFFA) through a Systems Thinking (ST) and System Dynamics (SD) approach, and to propose an alternative, systemic, view of the various aspects involved. In order to do this, in previous works we have developed an epistemic ground to understand FSDS and compare the performance of different methodologies to analyse and manage food systems properties and, identified and categorized the main FFFA variables, re-conceptualized - by simplifying it - its overall structure and characterized and analysed its dynamics. A framework setting aimed at better understanding FFFA's structure and its dynamics is presented and described. In the light of the results, recommendations based on FAO's competence are made.