Conceptual Framework for Managing Uncertainty in a Collaborative Agri-Food Supply Chain Context

Abstract

Agri-food supply chains are subjected to many sources of uncertainty. If these uncertainties are not managed properly, they can have a negative impact on the agri-food supply chain (AFSC) performance, its customers, and the environment. In this sense, collaboration is proposed as a possible solution to reduce it. For that, a conceptual framework (CF) for managing uncertainty in a collaborative context is proposed. In this context, this paper seeks to answer the following research questions: What are the existing uncertainty sources in the AFSCs? Can collaboration be used to reduce the uncertainty of AFSCs? Which elements can integrate a CF for managing uncertainty in a collaborative AFSC? The CF proposal is applied to the weather source of uncertainty in order to show its applicability.

A Collaborative Model to Improve Farmers’ Skill Level by Investments in an Uncertain Context

“…To better represent the real behavior of AFSC, the proposed model could be extended by considering more sources of uncertainty existing in AFSC (e.g. economic data) [11]. In addition, the model could be adjusted to represent some real behaviors of consumers.…”

“…First, the methodology proposed by Jiménez et al [9] to transform a fuzzy model into an equivalent auxiliary crisp model is employed. The auxiliary MILP crisp model is comprised by the same objective function and constraints that the fuzzy model except for constraints (2-4), (11) and (13) that are replaced by constraints (17-23). We recommend readers to consult original source [9] for more information of this approach.…”

“…Product balance at MR is set in constraints (9) and (10). Quantity of demand being served and/or rejected is determined in constraint (11). Constraint (12) ensures that investments in the CP do not exceed the available budget for that purpose.…”

Optimization Models to Improve First Quality Agricultural Production Through a Collaboration Program in Different Scenarios

“…The skill level of each farm is limited by the quantity of skill levels defined in the CP (15). In addition, the skill level of each farm depends on their initial skill level and the number of investments received from retailers, in a way that one received investment switches the farm to the next skill level (16).…”

“…Collaboration arises from the agreements and trust mechanisms accepted and adopted by members from a SC [14]. Collaboration plays an important role in this problem since decisions are made in a synchronized way to obtain better solutions for the entire supply chain (SC) and an incentive alignment is made by distributing the investments among farms [15]. Five different mathematical models are developed for each collaboration scenario.…”