Agrifood Chains as Complex Systems and the Role of Informality in Their Sustainability in Small Scale Societies

Agrifood chains are complex systems; they encompass biological, economic, social, health and political variables at different scales (e.g., on-farm, local, regional, national and global). Consequently, what enables a food system to achieve ‘sustainability’ is also complex. This is particularly the case in small-scale societies in developing nations which are socially constituted. In this paper we posit that a habitus of informality underpins food systems’ sustainability in these societies. We argue that conventional applications of approaches like the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) and Circles of Sustainability (CoS) frameworks fail to assist understanding of sustainability in informal socio-economic systems because they either place too much emphasis on economic growth (TBL) or underplay the strength of socio–cultural obligations and responsibilities (CoS). This is seen in international aid programs that encourage economic growth in the agrifood sector, which is challenging for villages in such societies. We review data from two Pacific Island countries—Tonga and Solomon Islands—to demonstrate the need for a more holistic way to think about sustainability in informal agrifood systems in small-scale developing nations. We demonstrate the value of employing a Hybrid Value Chain Framework for collecting information necessary to understanding how sustainability is constituted in the food systems of small-scale societies.