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PREPARE: a theoretical framework to improve food supply security in highly privatised and fragmented food systems

Bozzo, Nicoletta ; Persson, JoAnna and Becker, Per LU orcid (2026) In Agricultural and Food Economics 14(1). p.1-32
Abstract
Food supply is fundamental to societal resilience and, again, a priority across Europe. This paper proposes a theoretical framework to inform ongoing efforts to improve food supply security in highly privatised and fragmented food systems, grounded in the perspectives of key actors involved in securing food supply in Sweden. It is based on semi-structured interviews with 31 participants from public authorities, private companies, associations and foundations, academia, and voluntary organisations. Nine overall themes emerged from the data, concerning the governance setting, system vulnerabilities, and capacity for adaptation and intervention. The resulting PREPARE framework specifies seven practices, in three categories. Perceiving... (More)
Food supply is fundamental to societal resilience and, again, a priority across Europe. This paper proposes a theoretical framework to inform ongoing efforts to improve food supply security in highly privatised and fragmented food systems, grounded in the perspectives of key actors involved in securing food supply in Sweden. It is based on semi-structured interviews with 31 participants from public authorities, private companies, associations and foundations, academia, and voluntary organisations. Nine overall themes emerged from the data, concerning the governance setting, system vulnerabilities, and capacity for adaptation and intervention. The resulting PREPARE framework specifies seven practices, in three categories. Perceiving systemic, multi-hazard risk and Recognising complexity are epistemic: how actors perceive and frame the problem. Equalising time perspectives and objectives and Promoting transparency in communication and decision-making are relational: how actors align with each other across time and information gaps. Absorbing costs along the value chains, Reconciling self-sufficiency and secure international trade, and Enhancing existing capacities within the system are distributive: how resources, costs, and structural positions can be reallocated for resilience. Theoretically, the study suggests that the challenges for resilience in highly privatised and fragmented food systems are best understood as a dual market-and-governance failure to internalise food supply security into the everyday functioning of the food system, requiring practices that operate jointly at the epistemic, relational, and distributive levels, rather than simply amassing discrete interventions when anticipating or responding to crises. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
food supply, food system, resilience, supply security
in
Agricultural and Food Economics
volume
14
issue
1
article number
65
pages
32 pages
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:105048036769
ISSN
2193-7532
DOI
10.1186/s40100-026-00507-5
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c598984d-b399-4ac6-a060-a1afb77958be
date added to LUP
2026-08-21 11:40:20
date last changed
2026-09-01 04:01:00
@article{c598984d-b399-4ac6-a060-a1afb77958be,
  abstract     = {{Food supply is fundamental to societal resilience and, again, a priority across Europe. This paper proposes a theoretical framework to inform ongoing efforts to improve food supply security in highly privatised and fragmented food systems, grounded in the perspectives of key actors involved in securing food supply in Sweden. It is based on semi-structured interviews with 31 participants from public authorities, private companies, associations and foundations, academia, and voluntary organisations. Nine overall themes emerged from the data, concerning the governance setting, system vulnerabilities, and capacity for adaptation and intervention. The resulting PREPARE framework specifies seven practices, in three categories. Perceiving systemic, multi-hazard risk and Recognising complexity are epistemic: how actors perceive and frame the problem. Equalising time perspectives and objectives and Promoting transparency in communication and decision-making are relational: how actors align with each other across time and information gaps. Absorbing costs along the value chains, Reconciling self-sufficiency and secure international trade, and Enhancing existing capacities within the system are distributive: how resources, costs, and structural positions can be reallocated for resilience. Theoretically, the study suggests that the challenges for resilience in highly privatised and fragmented food systems are best understood as a dual market-and-governance failure to internalise food supply security into the everyday functioning of the food system, requiring practices that operate jointly at the epistemic, relational, and distributive levels, rather than simply amassing discrete interventions when anticipating or responding to crises.}},
  author       = {{Bozzo, Nicoletta and Persson, JoAnna and Becker, Per}},
  issn         = {{2193-7532}},
  keywords     = {{food supply; food system; resilience; supply security}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{1--32}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Agricultural and Food Economics}},
  title        = {{PREPARE: a theoretical framework to improve food supply security in highly privatised and fragmented food systems}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40100-026-00507-5}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s40100-026-00507-5}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}