Un article consacré aux défis et opportunités de la modernisation du système alimentaire urbain à Hanoi (Vietnam). Quelles politiques menées par les autorités locales peuvent accompagner cette transformation d'un système traditionnel qui affecte tous les acteurs de la chaîne de production, d'approvisionnement et de distribution alimentaires ?
Points clés [en anglais] :
- LESSONS FROM TRADITIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS CAN INFORM THE PATH TO MODERNISATION
In countries experiencing rapid urbanisation, there is a question of which path for urban food systems to follow. Southern countries, such as Vietnam, seem to favor modernisation to enhance market efficiency and food safety. Yet this same path is questioned today in developed countries for its tendency to result in longer chains between producers and consumers and its inability to correct negative environmental impacts and to distribute benefits to all stakeholders. Studying the transformation of Hanoi’s food system gives an opportunity to examine the question "how do we build a modern urban food system without irreversibly losing the ‘working’ characteristics of the traditional system such as mutual trust between its stakeholders, from producers to consumers?"
- TRANSFORMATION OF THE FOOD SYSTEM AFFECTS ACTORS ALONG THE SUPPLY CHAIN AND BEYOND
Though modernisation of the food system potentially brings advantages for some consumers, producers, and vendors in terms of food safety and market opportunities, modernisation—through for instance Safe Vegetable and Supermarket Policies, or changes in land use—does not guarantee improved outcomes for all stakeholders along the supply chain. The Hanoi case suggests that transition in the food system, whether mandated or spontaneous, gave rise to new challenges to consumers in the form of food price and quality, to farmers facing difficulties meeting new standards, and to supply chain workers whose livelihoods are threatened.
- LOCAL GOVERNANCE PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN REDUCING STAKEHOLDERS’ UNCERTAINTIES
Policymakers must recognise that the modernisation of food systems reorganises the supply chain, often beyond anticipations. Responding to evolving and heterogeneous uncertainties of participants in the food system is one task for policy planning, implementation, and evaluation. To do so they must rely on existing knowledge and networks, and foster trust and buy-in from all actors, farmers who need tools for planning, vendors or transporters and consumers who will ultimately drive the success of any food policy.