Evaluating Barriers and Drivers to Sustainable Food Supply Chains

Abstract

Today, with the daily increase in population, the demand for agricultural and/or, in general, food products continuously raises and so does the natural resources consumption which induces challenges to the supply chain management of important food products. In the present study, drivers as well as barriers of the agriculture sustainable supply chain are identified and ranked with the help of multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. We identify six drivers and seven barriers with the help of experts’ opinions in the field and apply ranking methods including TOPSIS-AHP, AHP, and COPRAS-AHP as well as Borda rule and Copeland method to merge the ratings. The results highlight that the economic dimension of sustainability is more important than the environmental and social dimension. Distrust of consumers, lack of understanding and awareness of managers, and performance appraisal problems were found to be the most important barriers. Furthermore, informing the community by the media, entering the global market, exporting products, and producing sustainable products as a competitive advantage were identified to be the most important drivers. The study also shows that public awareness and demands can push the food supply chains toward sustainability goals with the cooperation of governments and suppliers.

Assessing smallholders’ heterogeneity towards sustainable agrifood value chain in developing countries

“…They require extensive intervention in most of the activities as they have the lowest capacity and intentions to advance into sustainable value chain practices. In this case, government and suppliers need to cooperate to push forward towards sustainability goals in the chain (Mohseni et al. , 2022).…”

Exploring Sustainable Development Pathways for Agri-Food Supply Chains Empowered by Cross-Border E-Commerce Platforms: A Hybrid Grounded Theory and DEMATEL-ISM-MICMAC Approach

“…In the field of the driving factors of sustainable agricultural product supply chains, although many studies have employed mixed MCDM methods [18,33], there is a lack of research combining the grounded theory with the DEMATEL-ISM-MICMAC model to conduct an in-depth investigation into the driving factors and their mechanisms in ecommerce platform-led cross-border agricultural product supply chains. Additionally, the existing research primarily relies on the existing literature and expert consultations when constructing indicator systems [85,86], overlooking the sensitive insights derived from continuous comparison and systematic coding of big data texts using the grounded theory.…”

“…Regarding the analytical methods, the existing research has primarily utilized theoretical analyses [27,28], case studies [19,23], semi-structured interviews [29], the FAHP method [14], the FAHP-FTOPSIS method [30], the ISM model [31], the SEM method [15,32], the fuzzy AHP method [18], the Grey-DEMATEL method [24], TOPSIS-AHP, AHP, COPRAS-AHP, the Borda rule, and the Copeland method [33], as well as the entropy measurement method [34]. It is worth emphasizing that not all driving factors of SSCM have the same impact on organizations.…”

Drivers affecting the relation between biodistricts and school meals initiatives: evidence from the Cilento biodistrict

“…The topics addressed in the legal/contractual dimension were considered as determinants of entry barriers to organic PSFP to the different actors involved. This perspective is supported by several scholars: Mohseni et al (2022) precisely include regulatory factors among the barriers to sustainable food supply chains. This view builds upon the work of Meijer et al (2019) and Del Borghi et al (2014), which specifically state that unawareness or failure to align with organic standards constitutes an internal barrier and brings further complexity to food supply chains.…”