2005). AKST could be used to understand and respond to these new expectations.
In addition, a new profile for agriculture is taking shape, with two major poles (Loyat, 2006; Hubert et al., 2007): agriculture directed by the demand for products of standard quality; and agriculture directed by the supply of specific products, identified by their origin or their manufacturing process (Box 6-4). In both cases AKST could be used to support the food and fiber supply chains that connect producers to markets, provide incentives and just rewards to producers, processors and marketing agents, provide products of value to consumers and society and also support rural livelihoods. The organization and operation of these supply chains vary considerably across NAE and also among different commodity chains. Global supply chains in bulk commodities often run along side local procurement networks of highly differentiated products.
Some of the areas where AKST can intervene and help respond to the above mentioned expectations are presented below.
6.2.5.1 Improve food quality
AKST can explore the relationship between food, diet and health by taking into account the cultural diversity of food systems and the diversity of human responses within a given food system.
AKST can understand better the relationship between diet and health by:
• Investigating basic mechanisms by which nutrients or specific food components may act on biological mechanisms (gene expression, cell signaling and cell function, integrated physiology) (Young, 2002);
• Performing high throughput analysis of biological responses with techniques such as transcriptomics, pro-teomics and metabolomics (Afman and Muller, 2006; Trujillo et al., 2006); and
• Investigating how genetic polymorphism and metabolic imprinting (influence of early nutrition) of individuals result in the variability of physiological responses to diet (Waterland and Garza, 1999; Miles et al., 2005).
AKST can take into account the various determinants of food choices and their influence on health by:
• Investigating the biological, psychological, historical and socioeconomic factors that affect food choices, as well as their interactions (Bellisle, 2003); and
• Identifying the early events taking place in infancy and childhood that are critical for the development of food preferences e.g., predilection for more diversified foods, fat free foods, high protein foods, etc. (Hetherington, 2002).
AKST can improve the nutritional composition of food for health purposes by (Roberfroid, 2002; Richardson et al., 2003; Azais-Braesco et al., 2006):
• developing methods of assessment of "nutritional profile" of foods that allows a comparison between various food products regarding their contribution to the overall balance of the diet;
• developing functional foods and confirming related health claims; and |
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Box 6-4. Bipolarisation of agricultural demand
A new profile for agriculture is taking shape, with two major poles.
A demand for common products
The first pole corresponds to an agriculture that provides basic common commodities. From an economic point of view, the sustainability of this agriculture is guaranteed thanks to a combination of land, capital and labor with competitive production costs on the international markets. On environmental aspects, standard operating procedures provide information on quality and a sanitation and environmental profile of each good. Farming systems tend to be large scale, specialized with high level of division of labor into particular tasks.
In this type of agriculture the majority of the farmers gradually ceased direct marketing and processing and became suppliers of raw material at low prices (Bonny, 2005). The food processing chain is more complex, made up of players whose economic dimension and the number on each level is very variable, for example, a significant number of heterogeneous consumers, farmers generally of modest economic size, a central group of players with a lot of influence on the chain (e.g., central purchasing agencies).
The agro-industries and the distribution companies capture a growing part of the added value. However, in the past few years the downstream sector has developed a strategy of differentiation of its supply and has increased contracts for such with the producers.
A demand for identified products
On the other pole, agricultural products are identified by their origin, with characteristics specific to a particular region or "terroir" with strong value added linked to niche markets. The use of controlled labels of origin for wine was one of the first applications of niche marketing in Western Europe.
The territorial identity results from several factors, like the identification of places and, the types of products. It is accompanied by the organization of particular supply chains with a guarantee on the origin and the manufacturing processes, through specific qualification procedures: by the origin of products, by the production process (organic farming, certifications of conformity) and by marketing (fair trade, direct sales).
• developing and applying methods to remove anti-nutrients, allergens and toxins from the food chain.
Improve the standard quality of unprocessed agricultural products and their processing AKST could contribute to the improvement of nutritional, organoleptic and health quality of unprocessed agricultural products. The role the environment (i.e., soil, air, pathogens) and agricultural practices and their various interactions, play in determining the quality and stability of these unprocessed products (e.g., the production of mycotoxins, polluted soils and the transmission of xenobiotics to food |