Applying System Dynamics to the Food Loss and Waste Problem: a Literature Review

Although it has been around for over 50 years, system dynamics can still be considered as an emerging methodology to analyse food value chain problems. From over 400 peer-reviewed articles identified as potentially applying system dynamics models to agricultural systems, less than 40 focus specifically on food value chains. None of these articles applied a systems dynamics model to empirically analyse the impact of biophysical and socioeconomic factors on food loss and waste. In this paper, the aim is to provide a synthesis of the usefulness of system dynamics to agricultural systems issues, focusing particularly on the problem of food loss and waste. Key principles and concepts of system dynamics modelling are reviewed, some validity tests for the system dynamics model are highlighted, system dynamics is compared with other modelling approaches and the advantages of using this type of model are emphasised. Then, some examples of its applications to food value chains problems are reviewed, including a focus on policy issues, and a proposed empirical system dynamics model for analysing the problem of food loss and waste in a developing country context is illustrated.