Pavel Castka – The Conversation

Canadian companies will soon be legally obligated to annually report on efforts to prevent and remediate forced and child labour in their supply chains. Technology could help them do this. (Shutterstock)

November 2, 2023

How Canadian companies can use tech to identify forced labour in their supply chains

Cory Searcy, Toronto Metropolitan University; Grant Michelson, Macquarie University, and Pavel Castka, University of Canterbury

Supply chains can contain thousands of suppliers spanning continents. DNA testing, drones, satellite imaging and other technologies can help identify forced and child labour.

Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

July 13, 2023

Consumers want NZ farmers to comply with regulations – better monitoring and transparency would help to build trust

Pavel Castka, University of Canterbury; Corey Ruha, University of Waikato; John Reid, University of Canterbury, and Xiaoli Zhao, Lincoln University, New Zealand

Consumers’ main concerns regarding farm monitoring are food safety, animal welfare and water quality. Many would like to see Māori values and land practices incorporated.

Do you know where your coffee comes from? The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of knowing about our supply chains. Here, a woman carries harvested coffee beans in a coffee plantation in Mount Gorongosa, Mozambique, in August 2019. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

July 27, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic requires us to understand food’s murky supply chains

Cory Searcy, Toronto Metropolitan University and Pavel Castka, University of Canterbury

The COVID-19 crisis highlights the importance of supply chains. But even with the increased recent attention, most supply chains remain murky. Consumers can play a key role in lifting that cloud.

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