The food supply chain consists of the activities and actors that take food from production to consumption and to the disposal of its waste. The steps of the food supply chain include: production; storage and distribution; processing and packaging; retail and markets. At each step, food supply chains involve many large- to small-scale actors, both public and private, that are influenced by biophysical and environmental; innovation, technology and infrastructure; political and economic; socio-cultural; and demographic drivers drivers. The decisions made by one group of actors at one stage of the chain have implications for the others.

Source: HLPE. 2017. Nutrition and food systems. A report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security, Rome