The agrifood sector constantly faces challenges that continue to evolve over time. This includes global warming, which decreases harvests and reduces crop quality. Consumers’ preference for fresher, appealing produce poses another challenge as it leads to increased use of pesticides, wasteful packaging, and greater food loss and waste. Recently, supply chains have presented major new […]
Food safety is essential for human health. Contamination and food-borne illnesses in food supply chains must be avoided as they harm consumers’ health. They also affect the business of food providers, causing consumers to withdraw their trust until the cause is identified and the problem solved. Recently, food supply chains have become more complicated as […]
Digitalization of SMEs is a critical step in building inclusive, productive economies and societies. While there has been an upward trend in the adoption of digital technologies by SMEs, the gaps between larger and smaller firms is wide (OECD, 2021). Promoting the digitalization of SMEs is therefore essential to improve productivity, innovation, and inclusion. Digital […]
Smart manufacturing leverages computer-integrated systems, responds to changing demands and conditions in real time, and converges operating and information technologies to achieve optimization of business, physical, and digital processes. Digitization is usually the first step in smart manufacturing for the purpose of acquiring data and information to understand, monitor, and improve the processes of value […]
Population trends vary widely among countries and regions. In the Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea are among the top in terms of life expectancy, but declining fertility rates mean that the number of working-age people is decreasing. On the other end, in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, the workforce is still […]
With an expanding middle class and increased per capita income, the demand for food is shifting from quantity to quality. The demand for fresh, safe food is increasing worldwide. Maintaining food freshness and safety adds value and reduces food losses. As most agricultural products are perishable, however, their quality starts deteriorating immediately after harvest due […]
The IEA reported that global energy-related CO₂ emissions rose to 36.3 billion tons in 2021. This implies a strong relation between industrialization and emissions as economic activity intensified after the COVID-19 pandemic paralyzed growth in 2020. In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, unprecedented climatic conditions, pollution, and microplastics in oceans call for urgent action to limit […]
In July 2021, the Word Travel and Tourism Council reported the largest recorded decline in the GDP contribution by the travel and tourism sector in the Asia-Pacific region due to COVID-19. GDP in the region fell more than 53% compared with the global fall of 49%. The council also reported a 74% decrease in spending […]