Partnering for inclusive business in food provisioning Greetje Schouten 1 and Sietze Vellema 1,2 This review aims to unravel how partnering processes relate to processes of inclusion in the context of food provisioning. In food provisioning, inclusion has two key dimensions: the inclusion of (low-income) consumers to increase levels of food security, and the inclusion of smallholder producers to promote inclusive economic growth. This review discusses both dimensions and shows that the tandem of inclusive businesses and partnering processes reconfiguring the terms under which social groups at both sides of the agri-food chain are included is largely uncharted terrain. The paper ends with three promising areas for further research, which require a further integration of different literatures and perspectives. Addresses 1 Partnerships Resource Centre, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 2 Knowledge Technology and Innovation Group, Wageningen University and Research, Hollandseweg 1, 6706 KN, Wageningen, The Netherlands Corresponding authors: Schouten, Greetje (schouten@rsm.nl), Vellema, Sietze (sietze.vellema@wur.nl) Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2019, 41:38–42 This review comes from a themed issue on Theme TBC - inclusive business Edited by Nicky Pouw, Simon Bush and Ellen Mangnus Received: 12 July 2019; Accepted: 09 October 2019 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2019.10.004 1877-3435/ã 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). Introduction The growing interest in inclusive business in the agro-food sector is exemplary for the desire to combine increasing levels of food security with accelerated processes of inclusive economic growth [1,2,3  ]. While most organizations working in the field of inclusive business have their own definition of the concept, it seems to at least entail creating a net positive development impact through a financially profitable busi- ness model [4]. Inclusive businesses thus aim to combine profit making with societal impact and are claimed to con- tribute to poverty alleviation while at the same time create new entrepreneurial and innovation opportunities [5]. Inclu- sive business; however, is rarely performed in isolation and usually entails collaborative efforts with other actors. Hence, the suggested synergy between business interests and development goals seems to be contingent on partnering processes. Debates on inclusion as well as on partnerships run the risk to assert positive normative connotations to these concepts. The objective of this paper is therefore to present a literature review in order to carefully unpack the relationship between partnering and inclusive business in analytical rather than normative terms. Literature conceptualizing inclusive business assumes a necessary link with processes of partnering in two ways. Firstly, in the field of business studies, many authors accen- tuate the role of cross-sector collaboration as a crucial condition for the creation and operation of inclusive business models that contribute to broader societal goals [6–9]. Part- nering with actors from civil society and/or governments, allows for an integration of public goals into commercially viable business models [10]. Secondly, from an issue-driven perspective, many practitioners and academics alike argue that addressing complex societal challenges such as food security and inclusive economic growth, requires collabora- tive processes between different sectors of society [11,12]. From the 1990s onwards, partnerships have consistently been part of development policies [6,13–15]. By combining the unique resources and capabilities of businesses, NGOs and/or public actors, development outcomes can be deliv- ered, which exceed those of any one sector acting in isolation [16]. Global policy frameworks reflect this assumed neces- sity of cross-sector collaboration; the 17th Sustainable Devel- opment Goal (SDG) set by the United Nations aims to ‘strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development’ [17]. This perspective assumes that partnerships are essential for involving business in sustainable systemic change. How- ever, whether and how this works is largely unknown. In this article, we therefore review literature to unravel how cross-sector partnering relates to processes of inclu- sion in the context of food provisioning. In food provi- sioning, inclusion has two key dimensions: 1. of (low-income) consumers at the downstream end of the agri-food chain to ensure access to affordable and nutri- tious food; and 2. of (smallholder) producers at the upstream end of the agri-food to induce processes of inclusive economic growth. This review discusses both dimensions and aims to identify how the tandem of inclusive businesses and partnering plausibly modifies or reconfigures the terms on which marginalized groups at both sides of the agri-food chain are included. Inclusion of low-income consumers The literature review shows that partnerships between business partners and actors from civil society and/or Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2019, 41:38–42 www.sciencedirect.com