Pathway for managing food loss and climate change resilience: an institutional theory perspective on the pressures shaping farmers’ decisions in Malawi maize supply chains

Climate change has long been a global problem affecting food production and supply chains. Rising temperatures, droughts, cyclones, and changing weather patterns have changed the conditions favourable for maize growing in Malawi, leading to food insecurity. Compounding this problem is the high rate of maize loss along its upstream supply chain, which is higher than the global average. To achieve food security, farmers must adopt supply chain and climate-friendly practices. Understanding the mechanisms or pressures that shape their decisions is essential in providing institutional solutions, including guiding policy for Malawi to achieve Zero Hunger and Climate Action whilst building farmer capacity.

However, there is a lack of understanding of the pressures and their relative strength influencing farmers' decisions to adopt supply chain and climate-friendly practices in Malawi. In this paper, a short literature review of climate change, food loss, supply chain, climate-friendly practices, and sustainable development goals is reviewed to provide prior and current knowledge in the field. Following that, The Institutional theory was presented, focusing on its three pressures and how they affect supply chain practices. Lastly, a conceptual framework has been developed to guide understanding of the relative strengths and the prevalent imbalances in the supply chain that are creating gaps hindering efforts to promote sustainable supply chains and climate-friendly practices that will lead to ending hunger and achieving climate adaptation and resilience.