A review on blockchain applications in the agri-food sector

Digital transformation of the agricultural industry: Behavioral decision-making, influencing factors, and simulation practices in the Yunnan highlands

Motivating the agricultural industry to engage in digital transformation is a challenge academically and socially. It is of great significance to study the choice of digital transformation mode of agricultural industrial organization and analyze its driving factors for promoting the sustainable development of agricultural industrial organization. This study adopts a bilateral evolutionary game to construct a decision-making model for behavioral decision-making during the digital transformation of the agricultural industry. The contingent-actual logical framework and multiple case studies of Yunnan highland agriculture are used to explore the impact of various factors on behavioral decision-making during the digital transformation of the agricultural industry. Additionally, a simulation analysis is used to verify the validity of the bilateral evolutionary game model. The results demonstrate that: (1) When the agricultural industry chooses "active transformation," behavioral decision-making during the digital transformation of the agricultural industry reaches a Nash equilibrium; (2) transformation costs, industry revenue, and reward and penalty mechanisms are the main driving factors for whether or not the agricultural industry chooses to actively engage in digital transformation; and (3) the probability of active digital transformation increases when agricultural industry organizations obtain higher returns at lower costs. Simultaneously, the higher the government's incentives, the greater the enthusiasm. However, when the penalty is excessive, the digital transformation takes the shape of either passive transformation or forced active transformation. Subsequently, it is necessary to improve the digital transformation planning of the agricultural industry, strengthen this field's cooperation mechanism, and formulate a reasonable reward and penalty system for digital transformation.

A survey on blockchain sharding

As a promising technology, blockchain has found widespread application in numerous decentralized systems. However, the scalability problem of blockchain has drawn considerable criticism. Sharding, an effective technology, offers a solution to enhance blockchain scalability by enabling parallel validation and confirmation of transactions or new block generation. Although extensive research has been conducted on sharding, the existing literature still lacks a thorough review on its current state of arts with comprehensive analysis and evaluation. In this paper, we propose a series of evaluation criteria regarding scalability, applicability, and reliability. Additionally, we classify the cutting-edge sharding schemes based on blockchain type and sharding techniques. We then provide a comprehensive overview of these existing schemes by analyzing their respective advantages and disadvantages according to the proposed criteria. At the end of the survey, we highlight open issues and suggest future research directions based on the results of our meticulous analysis.

Blockchain-Based Frameworks for Food Traceability: A Systematic Review

With the rise of globalization and technological competition, the food supply chain has grown more complex due to the multiple players and factors involved in the chain. Traditional systems fail to offer effective and reliable traceability solutions considering the increasing requirement for accountability and transparency in the food supply chain. Blockchain technology has been claimed to offer the food industry a transformative future. The inherent features of blockchain, including immutability and transparency, create a dependable and secure system for tracking food products across the whole supply chain, ensuring total control over their traceability from the origin to the final consumer. This research offers a comprehensive overview of multiple models to understand how the integration of blockchain and other digital technologies has transformed the food supply chain. This comprehensive systematic review of blockchain-based food-supply-chain frameworks aimed to uncover the capability of blockchain technology to revolutionize the industry and examined the current landscape of blockchain-based food traceability solutions to identify areas for improvement. Furthermore, the research investigates recent advancements and investigates how blockchain aligns with other emerging technologies of Industry 4.0 and Web 3.0. Blockchain technology plays an important role in improving food traceability and supply-chain operations. Potential synergies between blockchain and other emerging technologies of Industry 4.0 and Web 3.0 are digitizing food supply chains, which results in better management, automation, efficiencies, sustainability, verifiability, auditability, accountability, traceability, transparency, tracking, monitoring, response times and provenance across food supply chains.

The Role of Blockchain Technology in Promoting Traceability Systems in Agri-Food Production and Supply Chains

Due to recurring food quality and safety issues, growing segments of consumers, especially in developed markets, and regulators in agri-food supply chains (AFSCs) require a fast and trustworthy system to retrieve necessary information on their food products. With the existing centralized traceability systems used in AFSCs, it is difficult to acquire full traceability information, and there are risks of information loss and data tampering. To address these challenges, research on the application of blockchain technology (BCT) for traceability systems in the agri-food sector is increasing, and startup companies have emerged in recent years. However, there have been only a limited number of reviews on the application of BCT in the agriculture sector, especially those that focus on the BCT-based traceability of agricultural goods. To bridge this knowledge gap, we reviewed 78 studies that integrated BCT into traceability systems in AFSCs and additional relevant papers, mapping out the main types of food traceability information. The findings indicated that the existing BCT-based traceability systems focus more on fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy, and milk. A BCT-based traceability system enables one to develop and implement a decentralized, immutable, transparent, and reliable system in which process automation facilitates the monitoring of real-time data and decision-making activities. We also mapped out the main traceability information, key information providers, and challenges and benefits of the BCT-based traceability systems in AFSCs. These helped to design, develop, and implement BCT-based traceability systems, which, in turn, will contribute to the transition to smart AFSC systems. This study comprehensively illustrated that implementing BCT-based traceability systems also has important, positive implications for improving AFSC management, e.g., reductions in food loss and food recall incidents and the achievement of the United Nations SDGs (1, 3, 5, 9, 12). This will contribute to existing knowledge and be useful for academicians, managers, and practitioners in AFSCs, as well as policymakers.

Implementation of relevant fourth industrial revolution innovations across the supply chain of fruits and vegetables: A short update on Traceability 4.0

Food Traceability 4.0 refers to the application of fourth industrial revolution (or Industry 4.0) technologies to ensure food authenticity, safety, and high food quality. Growing interest in food traceability has led to the development of a wide range of chemical, biomolecular, isotopic, chromatographic, and spectroscopic methods with varied performance and success rates. This review will give an update on the application of Traceability 4.0 in the fruits and vegetables sector, focusing on relevant Industry 4.0 enablers, especially Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, blockchain, and Big Data. The results show that the Traceability 4.0 has significant potential to improve quality and safety of many fruits and vegetables, enhance transparency, reduce the costs of food recalls, and decrease waste and loss. However, due to their high implementation costs and lack of adaptability to industrial environments, most of these advanced technologies have not yet gone beyond the laboratory scale. Therefore, further research is anticipated to overcome current limitations for large-scale applications.

Blockchain technology for sustainable supply chains: a network cluster analysis and future research propositions

Achieving the sustainable goals of the United Nations requires improving supply chain sustainability (SSC). Blockchain technology (BCT) has attracted attention on a global level with the ability to transform supply chain management and sustainability efforts. Recognizing this, this study investigates how BCT plays a role in SSC. The current study looks into the importance of BCT in order to move supply networks towards sustainability by performing bibliometric analysis, and network cluster analysis. Through the literature review, the current literature was analyzed and future research directions were concluded. We begin our study by selecting 297 papers on the relevant subjects by applying various filters to the Web of Science (WoS) database. Influential individuals, journals, and organizations in this field were identified using bibliometric analysis. A network analysis was performed to identify influential co-author, and keywords, and for page rank, and cluster analysis. The network analysis was revealed ten distinct study clusters, and ten propositions were suggested from the analysis of these clusters. Additionally, a conceptual framework for the research was proposed, which can advise managers, practitioners, and researcher communities on the key trends and topics in this emerging research domain. Furthermore, to guide research scholars in this field, 33 future research directions were suggested.

Application of blockchain technology in shaping the future of food industry based on transparency and consumer trust

Food Industries, at this moment, are moving towards a new phase, and this phase will be governed by consumers and not by the industry leaders. The report shows that claims on sustainability, health, wellness, and transparency would govern the future trends in the food industry. Currently, there are several cases of misleading and false claims which hamper consumer trust. So, to uphold consumer trust, authentication of claims through transparency in the food supply chain is required, and blockchain technology can bring transparency at relatively low transaction costs. Once in a blockchain network, data is very difficult to manipulate, with no single point of authority to mess and collapse the system. Though we see mostly the financial systems using blockchain's decentralized functionality, there is a growing trend of innovative applications being built in the supply chain area for contracts and operations. With effort in the right direction and over time, blockchain will recast how operations and processes are done across the industry, including public sectors. The paper reviews the opportunity for the blockchain in enabling food industries for future-readiness, empowering the consumers in verifying the product claims and thus prevent themselves from food fraud. In doing so, the paper considers the future trends in the food industry, identifies current food fraud cases, and outlines the various applications in the agri-food chain and challenges associated with it.

Graphical abstract

Exploring the relationship between digitalization, resilient agri-food supply chain management practices and firm performance

Purpose

This study aims to explore the mediating role of digital technologies-based supply chain integrating (SCI) strategies on the agri-supply chain performance (SCP) and firm performance (FP). This research has introduced recently emerged digital technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT). Further, based on theoretical support and an extensive literature review, this research has proposed some hypotheses, which have been quantitatively validated for their significance.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual model was formulated based on an extensive literature review. Data for this research were gathered from a survey completed by 119 respondents from different departments of agri-firms. Further, partial least square (PLS)-based structured equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the proposed hypothetical model.

Findings

The results confirm that IoT-based digital technologies and supply chain processes (organization integration [OI], information sharing and customer integration [CI]) have a significant positive correlation. Furthermore, supply chain practices are positively associated with SCP. Finally, it has been found that FP is positively impacted by SCP.

Research limitations/implications

This research is used to analyse the mediating impacts of digital supply chain processes as a linking strategy for SCP and FP. For practical purposes, this research provides investment decisions for implementing digital technologies in SC strategies. The findings have proposed implications for managers and practitioners in agri-firms based on existing theories: contingency theory (CT) and relational view theory. Also, this study suggests the deployment of smarter electronically based tags and readers, which improve the data analytics capabilities based on auto-captured data. Thus, the availability of quality information improves the data-driven decisional capabilities of managers at company level.

Originality/value

This is a unique and original study exploring the relationship between digitalization, resilient agri-food supply chain (AFSC) management practices and firm performance. This research may be extended to other industries in view of the results from SCP and impact of digitalization.

An Ethereum-Based Distributed Application for Enhancing Food Supply Chain Traceability

In today’s era, humanity has been overwhelmed by technological revolutions that have changed and will continue to change how business operations are performed, directly or indirectly. At the same time, the processes within the supply chain are quite complex, and as technology and processes evolve, they become more and more challenging. Traceability has become a critical issue in the food industry to ensure safety, quality, and compliance with regulations. The adoption of blockchain technology in the food supply chain has gained significant attention as a potential solution to improve traceability. This paper presents the development of a distributed application for table olives’ traceability on the Ethereum network. The paper also presents a methodological framework, which can help anyone aiming to implement an Ethereum decentralized application and demonstrates the practical use of the developed application by a Greek table olives producer. The application significantly improved the producer’s product traceability by providing a secure, transparent, and efficient solution for tracking and tracing the products in the supply chain. The app reduced the time, increased the accuracy and reliability of data, improved supply chain efficiency, and helped the producer comply with international regulations and standards.

Emerging Perspectives of Blockchains in Food Supply Chain Traceability Based on Patent Analysis

In the field of blockchain (BC) technology application in the food supply chain (FSC), a patent portfolio is collected, described, and analyzed using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) modeling, with the aim of obtaining insight into technology trends in this emerging and promising field. A patent portfolio consisting of 82 documents was extracted from patent databases using PatSnap software. The analysis of latent topics using LDA indicates that inventions related to the application of BCs in FSCs are patented in four key areas: (A) BC-supported tracing and tracking in FSCs; (B) devices and methods supporting application of BCs in FSCs; (C) combining BCs and other ICT technologies in FSC; and (D) BC-supported trading in FSCs. Patenting of BC technology applications in FSCs started during the second decade of the 21st century. Consequently, patent forward citation has been relatively low, while the family size confirms that application of BCs in FSCs is not yet widely accepted. A significant increase in the number of patent applications was registered after 2019, indicating that the number of potential users in FSCs is expected to grow over time. The largest numbers of patents originate from China, India, and the US.

Blockchain technology for sustainable development: a systematic literature review

Purpose

Blockchain technology (BCT) is one of the latest disruptive innovations, brought along with-it immense scope of diverse applications contributing towards sustainable development (SD). The consistent increase in the publications reveal that the application of BCT for SD has become popular among researchers and practitioners in past few years, in turn, urged for a systematic literature review (SLR) to get an insight into the research journey travelled so far and setting directions for future research in this area. Therefore, this study aims to identify, map and synthesize the available literature on application of BCT for SD.

Design/methodology/approach

The automatic and manual search resulted into 1,277 studies from Scopus and Web of Science database. Further applying inclusion and exclusion criterion resulted in bringing out total of 157 studies, which were termed as primary studies. Based on the results of descriptive analysis, conducted through Bibliometric and VOSviewer software, the characteristics of BCT and its key capabilities, contributing towards shaping the recent SD literature, were critically examined. Identified research themes for clustering primary studies were aligned with United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (UNSDG). A mind-map was also prepared on the basis of thematic classification of primary studies.

Findings

The research themes “business practice and economic sustainability”, “agriculture and food security” and “business practice and environment sustainability” were found to be the focal points of scholarly attention. Synthesis and analysis of primary studies resulted into classification of research gaps under four categories – theoretical foundation, methodological limitation, research themes and technology implementation challenges. The study was concluded by sensitizing and sanitizing the concrete research questions for future research.

Research limitations/implications

The research findings shall be a roadmap for research scholars, academicians and practitioners to comprehend the present state of knowledge in the domain of “BCT application for SD” and decide upon adopting the future course of action to attain the UNSDGs by the year 2030.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study is the first attempt in its own sense to analyse and synthesize the available literature on “attaining SD through BCT” using SLR approach.

Factors Affecting the Use of Blockchain Technology in Humanitarian Supply Chain: A Novel Fuzzy Large-Scale Group-DEMATEL

Based on previous evidence, the use of blockchain for improving Supply Chains (SCs) regarding humanitarian projects has received attention over the past five years. The present study is innovative in investigating crucial parameters affecting the using of Blockchain Technology (BT) in Humanitarian Supply Chains (HSCs). More precisely, this study emphasizes parameters that affect blockchain in the HSCs and presents a new fuzzy large-scale group decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (fuzzy large-scale group-DEMATEL) approach to analyze the interdependence of contributing factors for using BT in HSCs. This method consists of two stages: (1) clustering the large-scale group-experts into small subgroups by their characteristics, and (2) identifying the key factors affecting BT in HSCs with a novel fuzzy large-scale group-DEMATEL approach. According to experts, in this study, among the 25 evaluated factors, disintermediation has been identified as the most important one, followed by anonymity and security. A closer look reveals that 13 and 12 factors have been "cause" and "effect" factors, respectively. Our research can be used to promote the effectiveness of using BT in HSCs, so as to promote the proper distribution of relief materials in practical disasters.

Blockchain, Quo Vadis? Recent Changes in Perspectives on the Application of Technology in Agribusiness

Information technologies such as blockchain are developing fast, overcoming bottlenecks, and quickly taking advantage of their application. The present study analyzes recent changes concerning the benefits, disadvantages, challenges, and opportunities of blockchain applications in agribusiness. Interviews were conducted with and a questionnaire was applied to professionals working in the development and application of blockchain technology in agribusiness, to compare their perception of the recent advances. The results showed that the importance of blockchain technology to improve governance and information flow along supply chains has increased, and this is the main perceived benefit. The main disadvantages were removing intermediaries and the high cost of implementing the technology. The absence of a widely accepted platform in blockchain operations is the leading and growing challenge, while patterns for blockchain technology seem to be being overcome. The integration of blockchain with new technologies, and the competitiveness provided by the technology, are seen as the main and growing opportunities. Despite the study limitations, we conclude that the benefits and opportunities associated with blockchain application in agribusiness outweigh the challenges and disadvantages in number and importance, and are becoming more relevant.

The project, the everyday, and reflexivity in sociotechnical agri-food assemblages: proposing a conceptual model of digitalisation

Digital technologies have opened up new perspectives in thinking about the future of food and farming. Not only do these new technologies promise to revolutionise our way of meeting global food demand, they do so by boldly claiming that they can reduce their environmental impacts. However, they also have the potential to transform the organisation of agri-food systems more fundamentally. Drawing on assemblage theory, we propose a conceptual model of digitalisation organised around three facets: digitalisation as a project; "everyday digitalisation"; and reflexive digitalisation. These facets reflect different relations between concrete practices and representations, imaginaries, and narratives, while representing different modes of agency: the collective, the distributed, and the individual, which, we argue, highlight contrasting ways for human and non-human actors to engage with digitalisation. With this model anchored in assemblage theory, we offer a tool for critically and comprehensively engaging with the complexity and multiplicity of digitalisation as a sociotechnical process. We then apply our theoretical framework to two ethnographic studies, one explores the growth of digital technologies in Switzerland as a way to govern and monitor national agriculture, the other focuses on Indonesia, where small digital startups have begun to dot the landscape. By identifying the material and semiotic processes occurring in each case, we notice similar issues being raised in terms of how digitalisation is co-constructed in society.

Trends of Augmented Reality for Agri-Food Applications

Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in deploying state-of-the-art augmented reality (AR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) for agri-food applications. The benefits of AR HMDs to agri-food industry stakeholders (e.g., food suppliers, retail/food service) have received growing attention and recognition. AR HMDs enable users to make healthier dietary choices, experience novel changes in their perception of taste, enhance the cooking and food shopping experience, improve productivity at work and enhance the implementation of precision farming. Therefore, although development costs are still high, the case for integration of AR in food chains appears to be compelling. This review will present the most recent developments of AR HMDs for agri-food relevant applications. The summarized applications can be clustered into different themes: (1) dietary and food nutrition assessment; (2) food sensory science; (3) changing the eating environment; (4) retail food chain applications; (5) enhancing the cooking experience; (6) food-related training and learning; and (7) food production and precision farming. Limitations of current practices will be highlighted, along with some proposed applications.

The Potential of Blockchain Technology in the Transition towards Sustainable Food Systems

Food systems are both contributing to and affected by environmental degradation and climate change. The transition towards resilient and sustainable food systems is essential to ensure food security and minimise negative environmental impacts. Innovative technologies can accelerate this transition. Blockchain technology (BCT) is attracting attention as it can deliver transparency to complex global food supply chains and has the potential to guide current food production towards better sustainability and efficiency. This case study investigated the opportunities that BCT can offer to food supply chains. Qualitative interviews with eight main BCT providers were conducted to evaluate the current state of BCT and put it into perspective by mapping out advantages, disadvantages, incentives, motives, and expectations connected to its implementation in global food systems. A thematic analysis showed that, while BCT was considered beneficial by all interviewees, uptake is slow due to high implementation costs and the lack of incentives for companies throughout the food chain from farms to food industry and retail. Results further revealed that the advantages of BCT go beyond communication of trustworthy information and development of closer producer–consumer relationships. In fact, it can provide the opportunity to decrease food waste, enhance working conditions throughout the supply chain, and promote sustainable consumption habits. As BCT may be increasingly used in the food supply chain, the results give a basis for future research that may leverage both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine actors’ behaviours. Also, the importance of improving user experiences through functional applications and software to facilitate the adoption of the technology is stressed.

Blockchain Applications in Forestry: A Systematic Literature Review

Blockchain applications have received a lot of attention in recent years. They provide enormous benefits and advantages to many different sectors. To date, there have not been any systematic studies comprehensively reviewing current blockchain-based applications in the forestry sector. This paper examines published work on blockchain-based applications in the forestry sector. A systematic review was conducted to identify, analyze, and discuss current literature on current blockchain applications deployed (and/or proposed) in the forestry sector, grouping results into three domains of forest management, traceability of forest-based products, and forest fire detection based on content analysis. The analyses highlight reported benefits, opportunities, and challenges of blockchain applications in the forestry sector. The study results show that blockchain has great potential in sustainable forestry, minimizing illegal logging, conserving biodiversity, and many other areas in forestry. It also shows that blockchain in forestry is still immature and complex, since it requires specialists to adopt. This paper contributes towards filling the existing research gap through this systematic review on blockchain applications in forestry. This review offers insights into a deep understanding of blockchain applications for managers, practitioners, and consultants interested in forestry. The paper identifies existing research gaps on related topics of blockchain applications in forestry and makes recommendations on potential future directions for research into blockchain in forestry.

The Role of Blockchain in Revolutionizing the Agricultural Sector

Since blockchain technology has proven to be effective in the development of a wide range of industries, its use in other fields is also being expanded. Agriculture is one such sector, where blockchain technology is being used to improve farm business operations. Today, several agribusiness firms are utilizing technology to improve food supply chain tracking. For example, Farmers Edge, the world’s leading company that revolutionized the field of digital agriculture through its work in providing advanced artificial intelligence solutions, as well as new opportunities that give agriculture a globally advanced future for all stakeholders, has taken a significant step forward. The issue of blockchain network technology and its applications in agriculture will be discussed in this study, as well as the key advantages that this technology can provide, when employed to make the lives of both producers and consumers easier. In addition, a total of 79 research papers were evaluated, with a focus on the state of blockchain technology in agriculture, related issues, and its future importance, as well as relevant contributions to this new technology and the distributions of this study by different countries.

Food regulation and policing: innovative technology to close the regulatory gap in Australia

Internationally, food regulations are centred on human health and safety to prevent health crises. In Australia, regulatory control over the health and safety of humans is sound, however from a criminological perspective, control over fraudulent activities within food supply chains lack. Food fraud knows no geographical boundaries and has endless reach, therefore should be prioritised by policymakers, regulators and law enforcement. Australia’s reputation for high-quality food is important domestically, but also for establishing and maintaining trust in international food trade relationships, therefore lack of enforcement over food could damage ‘Brand Australia’. Given the food industry’s vested interest in maintaining this reputation, it must also play a role to protect it. This research reviews regulatory landscape against food fraud in Australia and then, questions whether coupling informal controls to support existing formal regulatory controls may be the most appropriate and holistic way forward to protect the industry and consumers. It tests a regulatory pluralism framework to determine whether it can logically organize informal, innovative responses to contribute cohesively alongside formal controls at various points along the supply chain to prevent food fraud. Finally, it considers available informal, innovative technologies to: enhance testing regimes; prevent product and label tampering; and trace food supply chains adopted internationally show positive progress in responding to increasingly sophisticated and organized global food fraud. The research concludes adopting a regulatory pluralism framework, coupling existing regulatory controls and innovative technology could enhance and strengthen Australia’s regulatory response to fraud within its food industry.

Halal Food Sustainability between Certification and Blockchain: A Review

Islam is the second-largest religion on a global scale. All around the world Muslims are estimated to comprise more than 1.9 billion people. Therefore, the demand for Halal commodities is expected to reach a high growth rate: thus, it is crucial to increase its global market’s reliability and traceability. Based on these grounds, the scope of this paper is to assess Halal food sustainability, examining the barriers and opportunities offered by the certification and blockchain tools. To this purpose, the authors carried out an integrative literature review, selecting 54 contributions in the Web of Science platform. Despite several limitations, such as the lack of a standardized framework or universally accepted and reliable certifying authorities, the implementation of blockchain technology has emerged as an interesting instrument to increase the trustworthiness and traceability of Halal foods. This tool could also help the development of protocols and standard procedures, ensuring hygienic and permitted products that may boost food safety and security. Besides, the enhancement of the Halal certification and the blockchain tool, even if several efforts are required in terms of innovation and cooperation by local authorities, industrial associations and leading consumers, could enhance fair trade, ethical business, green animal breeding and environmental economics, and hence sustainable development.

Ranking of performance indicators in an Internet of Things (IoT)-based traceability system for the agriculture supply chain (ASC)

Purpose

The prime aim of this paper is the identification and prioritization of performance indicators, which motivate the development of an Internet of Things (IoT)-based traceability system for the agriculture supply chain (ASC). Also, this research aims for checking the robustness of obtained results.

Design/methodology/approach

Ten performance indicators have been identified based on the five “criteria in the IoT-based traceable system”. Further, based on five criteria, performance indicators were ranked by using grey-based “Additive Ratio Assessment”.

Findings

Sustainable practices obtained first rank, and certification of agri-products obtained worst ranking. Further, based on sensitivity analysis, tracking of agri-products and stakeholders' behavior have found high sensitivity. Also, information sharing and global distribution networks have found the least sensitive performance indicators.

Research limitations/implications

This research has some limitations of taking only a few criteria and alternatives. This study may also contribute as a practical insight to the practitioners and managers in decision-making in the adoption of an IoT-based traceable system within the ASC.

Originality/value

This research may motivate the implementation of an IoT-based efficient traceability mechanism that improved the sustainability and consumer's trust in the ASC during different types of hazardous activities and other outbreaks (COVID-19). Also, this research has provided a theoretical insight based on the dynamic capability theory (DCT).

Leveraging blockchain technology for circularity in agricultural supply chains: evidence from a fast-growing economy

Purpose

The authors originally explore the factors for blockchain technology (BCT) adoption in agricultural supply chains (ASCs) to enhance circularity and understand the dependencies, hierarchical structure and causalities between these factors.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on an extant literature review and expert opinion, the present study identified ten enablers for adopting BCT to leverage the circular economy (CE) practices in the ASCs. Then, using an integrated interpretive structural modeling and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (ISM-DEMATEL) approach, hierarchical and cause–effect relationships are established.

Findings

It was observed that traceability is the most prominent enabler from the CE perspective in ASCs. However, traceability, being a net effect enabler, will be realized through the achievement of other cause enablers, such as seamless connectivity and information flow and decentralized and distributed ledger technology. The authors also propose a 12 Rs framework for enhancing circularity in ASC operations.

Research limitations/implications

The paper identifies enablers to BCT adoption that will enhance circularity in ASC operations. The ISM hierarchical model is based on the driving and dependence powers of the enablers, and DEMATEL aids in identifying causal relationships among the enablers.

Practical implications

The study's findings and proposed 12 Rs framework may help the practitioners and policymakers devise effective BCT implementation strategies in ASCs, thereby empowering sustainability and circularity.

Originality/value

This study enriches the literature by identifying and modeling enablers for BCT adoption in ASCs. The study also proposes a new 12 Rs framework to help enhance ASC circularity.

Implications for Agricultural Producers of Using Blockchain for Food Transparency, Study of 4 Food Chains by Cumulative Approach

In agro-food, Blockchain has been recently implemented in order to improve transparency. Blockchain raises great expectations of data decentralization and better efficiency–cost ratio, integration speed, and data protection that appear as promises of gains in all areas. The fundamental assumption was that transparency prevents or reduces illegitimate forms of power. However, discussions are emerging about how digitization is likely to exacerbate power inequalities in food systems, as transparency can become tyrannical when it contributes to the proliferation of audits, evaluations, and assessment measures. The objective of this research is to contribute by providing knowledge about the implications of this digitization for farmers. For a first exploratory study, we conducted 53 interviews with actors of digitalization of agri-food, and we used 9 press releases, 3 webinars, and 1 article published in a specialized French journal. These materials evoke 12 different agro-food chains recently equipped with blockchain in France. From this pool of chains, we focused on four through in-depth analysis of interviews and literature readings using NVivo software. The first results highlight that the use of blockchain for transparency rarely delivers on its promises. Blockchain tends to centralize control since few actors have access to the distributed ledger, and the visibility brought to farmers, at the consumer level, tends to become a form of control. While blockchain seems to provide some benefits to producers, it raises the issue of overloaded technology and the problem of their data privacy.

Can blockchain help food supply chains with platform operations during the COVID-19 outbreak?

Food selling platforms are facing both challenges and opportunities during the COVID-19 outbreak as the enforcement of social distancing protocols has pushed consumers with serious health and safety concerns to shop online. Observing that platforms and their suppliers have adopted blockchain technologies and linked selected information nodes separately to foster consumers' trust, we establish a game-theoretic model to study the operations decisions and blockchain adoption strategies for a food supply chain consisting of one platform and one supplier. We explore the values and impacts of blockchain on the retailing platform, supplier, and consumers, respectively. An all-win situation is achieved when both members of the supply chain adopt blockchain. We further propose that not all prevalent supply chain contracts can achieve supply chain coordination in the presence of blockchain. In extended studies, we examine the incentives of the supply chain members' blockchain implementation with consideration of the fixed cost of such adoption, product infection, and tampered information.

Data Science in the Food Industry

Food safety is one of the main challenges of the agri-food industry that is expected to be addressed in the current environment of tremendous technological progress, where consumers' lifestyles and preferences are in a constant state of flux. Food chain transparency and trust are drivers for food integrity control and for improvements in efficiency and economic growth. Similarly, the circular economy has great potential to reduce wastage and improve the efficiency of operations in multi-stakeholder ecosystems. Throughout the food chain cycle, all food commodities are exposed to multiple hazards, resulting in a high likelihood of contamination. Such biological or chemical hazards may be naturally present at any stage of food production, whether accidentally introduced or fraudulently imposed, risking consumers' health and their faith in the food industry. Nowadays, a massive amount of data is generated, not only from the next generation of food safety monitoring systems and along the entire food chain (primary production included) but also from the Internet of things, media, and other devices. These data should be used for the benefit of society, and the scientific field of data science should be a vital player in helping to make this possible.

Big Data Impacting Dynamic Food Safety Risk Management in the Food Chain

Foodborne pathogens are a major contributor to foodborne illness worldwide. The adaptation of a more quantitative risk-based approach, with metrics such as Food safety Objectives (FSO) and Performance Objectives (PO) necessitates quantitative inputs from all stages of the food value chain. The potential exists for utilization of big data, generated through digital transformational technologies, as inputs to a dynamic risk management concept for food safety microbiology. The industrial revolution in Internet of Things (IoT) will leverage data inputs from precision agriculture, connected factories/logistics, precision healthcare, and precision food safety, to improve the dynamism of microbial risk management. Furthermore, interconnectivity of public health databases, social media, and e-commerce tools as well as technologies such as blockchain will enhance traceability for retrospective and real-time management of foodborne cases. Despite the enormous potential of data volume and velocity, some challenges remain, including data ownership, interoperability, and accessibility. This paper gives insight to the prospective use of big data for dynamic risk management from a microbiological safety perspective in the context of the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) conceptual equation, and describes examples of how a dynamic risk management system (DRMS) could be used in real-time to identify hazards and control Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli risks related to leafy greens.

What Blockchain Are We Talking About? An Analytical Framework for Understanding Blockchain Applications in Agriculture and Food

With the many promises it holds in addressing problems concerning information exchange and digital transactions in multi-actor processes, blockchain technology (BCT) has gained considerable traction in the agrifood sector. Governments, international organisations, private companies, consortia of public and private actors are launching various blockchain projects for improving transparency, traceability, and many other key issues in the agrifood sector. This has resulted in a large number of use cases. It is often unclear, however, what and how technical, social and economic aspects were considered in different usecases. Due to the novelty and elusiveness of the technology, there is no ready-to-use analytical framework or guideline yet for assessing its applicability and choosing the right technical and organisational setup. As a result, many stakeholders have to grope in the dark when designing and implementing their “blockchain application.” Based on studies of use cases worldwide and experiences in organizing different blockchain pilots in the Netherlands, this paper seeks to address this problem by providing an overview of the choices to be made at three layers of a blockchain application: the ledger, the governance structure and the ecosystem. This can serve as a reference framework for understanding different blockchain applications and choosing key parameters for new use cases in the agrifood sector. It is expected that such demystification of the blockchain will contribute to more realistic and effective application of the technology to pressing problems in agriculture and food.

Artificial Intelligence to Improve the Food and Agriculture Sector

The world population is expected to reach over 9 billion by 2050, which will require an increase in agricultural and food production by 70% to fit the need, a serious challenge for the agri-food industry. Such requirement, in a context of resources scarcity, climate change, COVID-19 pandemic, and very harsh socioeconomic conjecture, is difficult to fulfill without the intervention of computational tools and forecasting strategy. Hereby, we report the importance of artificial intelligence and machine learning as a predictive multidisciplinary approach integration to improve the food and agriculture sector, yet with some limitations that should be considered by stakeholders.

Distributed Ledger Technology Applications in Food Supply Chains: A Review of Challenges and Future Research Directions

The lack of transparency and traceability in food supply chains (FSCs) is raising concerns among consumers and stakeholders about food information credibility, food quality, and safety. Insufficient records, a lack of digitalization and standardization of processes, and information exchange are some of the most critical challenges, which can be tackled with disruptive technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). Studies provide evidence that novel technological and sustainable practices in FSCs are necessary. This paper aims to describe current practical applications of DLTs and IoT in FSCs, investigating the challenges of implementation, and potentials for future research directions, thus contributing to achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Within a systematic literature review, the content of 69 academic publications was analyzed, describing aspects of implementation and measures to address the challenges of scalability, security, and privacy of DLT, and IoT solutions. The challenges of high costs, standardization, regulation, interoperability, and energy consumption of DLT solutions were also classified as highly relevant, but were not widely addressed in literature. The application of DLTs in FSCs can potentially contribute to 6 strategic SDGs, providing synergies and possibilities for more sustainable, traceable, and transparent FSCs.

Reducing Antimicrobial Use and Dependence in Livestock Production Systems: A Social and Economic Sciences Perspective on an Interdisciplinary Approach

Objective: In livestock production, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is considered an externality as it is the undesired result of preventive and curative antimicrobial use. To address this biosocial issue, our objective is to present an approach based on interdisciplinary research to develop strategies and policies that aim to contain AMR.

Method: To do so, we addressed three fundamental questions on which control policies and strategies for agricultural pollution problems are centered in the light of AMR. To ensure the technical, economic, behavioral and political feasibility of the developed measures, we demonstrated the usefulness of systemic approaches to define who, what and how to target by considering the complexity in which the ultimate decision-maker is embedded. We then define how voluntary or compulsory behavioral change can be achieved via five routes, introducing a clear taxonomy for AMR Interventions. Finally, we present three criteria for ex-ante analysis and ex-post evaluation of policies and strategies.

Conclusion: Interdisciplinary systemic approaches enable the development of AMR policies and strategies that are technically, politically, economically and, last but not least, behaviorally feasible by allowing the identification of (a) all actors influencing AMU in livestock production, (b) power relations between these actors, (c) adequate regulatory and intervention bases, (d) what behavioral change strategy to use, (e) whom should implement this, as well as the cost-effective assessment of combinations of interventions. Unfortunately, AMR policies and strategies are often investigated within different disciplines and not in a holistic and systemic way, which is why we advocate for more interdisciplinary work and discuss opportunities for further research.

The internet of things in the food supply chain: adoption challenges

Purpose

The food supply chain (FSC) challenges coupled with global disruptions, such as the recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, exacerbate its vulnerability. The Internet of things (IoT) is one of the disruptive technologies being adopted in food supply chain management (FSCM). This study aims to address the challenges of IoT adoption in the FSC by systematically analyzing the prior pertinent literature.

Design/methodology/approach

A structured literature review was used to collate a list of peer-reviewed and relevant publications. A total of 72 out of 210 articles were selected for the final evaluation.

Findings

The literature review findings suggest five themes: technical, financial, social, operational, educational and governmental related challenges. A total of 15 challenges were devised from the review related literature of IoT adoption. The study concludes with future research recommendations for scholars and practical implications for practitioners.

Research limitations/implications

While this study focuses on the overall FSC, further research should address other domains in the FSC such as cold supply chain, agriculture and perishable food to gain a better contextual understanding of the specific case.

Originality/value

The topic of IoT adoption in the FSCM is still considered emerging. Therefore, the present work contributes to the limited studies and documentation on the level of IoT implementation in the FSCM. This study should help organizations to assimilate how to adopt and manage the IoT application by addressing the factors and challenges presented in this research.

Meeting Changing Customer Requirements in Food and Agriculture Through the Application of Blockchain Technology

This research summarizes the implementation of blockchain technology in the food and agriculture industry in Canada. Our research indicates that blockchain solutions are an existing and proven set of technologies. We also describe how blockchain based supply chain traceability information has many more benefits than its current use for food safety and product recalls. We recommend that costs for development of blockchain based solutions should also be distributed across stakeholders, and apportioned by the relevant industry associations. Our research indicates that adoption of blockchain technology in agriculture will achieve critical mass earlier when the industry applies a consortium approach, in a regulatory environment that is supported by government. This report also makes recommendations relevant to the integration of blockchain for end consumers of food.

Development of the Circular Bioeconomy: Drivers and Indicators

The EU’s 2018 Bioeconomy Strategy Update and the European Green Deal recently confirmed that the bioeconomy is high on the political agenda in Europe. Here, we propose a conceptual analysis framework for quantifying and analyzing the development of the EU bioeconomy. The bioeconomy has several related concepts (e.g., bio-based economy, green economy, and circular economy) and there are clear synergies between these concepts, especially between the bioeconomy and circular economy concepts. Analyzing the driving factors provides important information for monitoring activities. We first derive the scope of the bioeconomy framework in terms of bioeconomy sectors and products to be involved, the needed geographical coverage and resolution, and time period. Furthermore, we outline a set of indicators linked to the objectives of the EU’s bioeconomy strategy. In our framework, measuring developments will, in particular, focus on the bio-based sectors within the bioeconomy as biomass and food production is already monitored. The selected indicators commit to the EU Bioeconomy Strategy objectives and conform with findings from previous studies and stakeholder consultation. Additionally, several new indicators have been suggested and they are related to measuring the impact of changes in supply, demand drivers, resource availability, and policies on sustainability goals.

A scoping review of the digital agricultural revolution and ecosystem services: implications for Canadian policy and research agendas

The application of technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, cellular agriculture, and big data analytics to food systems has been described as a digital agricultural revolution with the potential to increase food security and reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint. Yet, the scientific evidence informing how these technologies may impact or enhance ecosystem services has not been comprehensively reviewed. In this scoping review, we examine how digital agricultural technologies may enhance agriculture’s support of ecosystem services. Keyword searches in academic databases resulted in 2337 records, of which 74 records met review criteria and were coded. We identify three clusters of digital agricultural technologies including those that make farm management more precise, increase connectivity, and create novel foods. We then examine modelling and empirical evidence gaps in research linking these technologies to ecosystem services. Finally, we overview barriers to implementing digital agricultural technologies for better ecosystem services management in the Canadian context including economic and political systems; lack of policies on data management, governance, and cybersecurity; and limited training and human resources that prevents producers from fully utilizing these technologies.

Reducing food loss and waste: Five challenges for policy and research

Despite broad agreement in policy circles on the need to reduce food loss and waste (FLW), considerable gaps in information still exist. This paper identifies policy-relevant information gaps, summarizes recent research that tries to fill these gaps and identifies five challenges for researchers, policymakers and practitioners in reducing FLW. The five challenges identified are: (i) measuring and monitoring FLW, (ii) assessing benefits and costs of FLW reduction and the tradeoffs involved, (iii) designing FLW-related policies and interventions under limited information, (iv) understanding how interactions between stages along food value chain and across countries affect outcomes of FLW reduction efforts, (v) preparing for income transitions and the shifting relative importance of losses and waste as economies develop.

Blockchain: a brief review of Agri-Food Supply Chain Solutions and Opportunities

This article aims at presenting Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies from business perspective (although providing adequate technology context) and, especially, highlighting concrete implementations in Agri-Food Supply Chain, bringing security, transparency and robustness to solutions, and enabling the creation of added value through the provisioning of information to consumers which allow them to understand the origin, the transformation and the transportation of agri-food goods. It also brings some examples of European Programmes and Projects that are supporting innovative solutions to reach the market.

Blockchain technology and traceability in the agrifood industry

Distributed ledgers are becoming commonly used technologies to trace agrifood supply chains in view of their safety, immutability, transparency, and scalability. In the present review, we discuss the most relevant case studies of agrifood supply chain traceability using blockchain (BC) and other distributed ledgers technologies. Considering that each supply chain actually has specific requests of traceability, we here suggest a logical scheme in order to favor the identification of the BC structure that is more appropriate for each agrifood supply chain, including the identification of supply chains where complex BC technologies are actually not necessary.

Internet of things (IoT) based coordination system in Agri-food supply chain: development of an efficient framework using DEMATEL-ISM

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is one of the key aspects of making agriculture sector more competitive in India. India and other developing countries arefacing issues for coordination of their Agriculture Food Supply Chain Management (AFSCM) as not having technical and resources support; especially in natural disaster condition like recent COVID-19 outbreak. The purpose of this research is to develop anInternet of Things (IoT) based efficient and supportive coordinating system for enhancing the coordinating mechanism in AFSC under natural outbreaks. With the help of a literature review and experts’ inputs, seven enablers have been identified by grouping thirty sub enablers. Further, ISM methodology has been employed for developing a framework for enablers’ relationships to improve the coordination in the AFSC for taking strategic and operational decisions. After that, DEMATELtechnique is utilised to develop the causal and effectrelationships between all the identified enablers of a coordination system in IoT based AFSC. It has been noticed that‘Top Management Support (TMS)’ is the main driver by MICMAC analysis and categorised in a cause group based on (R-C) value. Further, the coordination index of the entire model is calculated based on the Cleveland theory. This paper also discussed a case study of the sugar mill industry. This paper also discussed stakeholder theory in developing IoT based coordination system of AFSC. Further, theoretical contribution may also guide the managers of the organisation in developing their strategies by using Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis based on Cleveland index.

Multi-utility framework: blockchain exchange platform for sustainable development

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design a sustainable development platform for water and energy peer-to-peer trading that is financially and economically feasible. Water and other resources are becoming scarcer every day, and developing countries are the neediest for an immediate intervention. Water, as a national need, is considered to be one of the most precious commodities, but it is also one of the main causes for conflicts in the 21st century. Rainwater harvesting and peer-to-peer trading of the harvested water is one of the most convenient, scalable and sustainable solutions but faces organization challenges such as the absence of suitable business models motivating normal users to sell their generated resources (such as water and energy), currency and financial settlement complexities and single utility markets.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a multi-utility trading platform based on the blockchain technology which can address the challenges faced by peer-to-peer trading for resources such as energy and water.

Findings

This paper presents a peer-to-peer multi-utility trading platform that solves the shortcomings of existing utility frameworks reported in the current literature.

Originality/value

This proposed platform meets the needs of developing countries as well as rural areas of developed countries. The open nature of the proposed design makes it suitable for adoption and use by various stakeholders.

Food Supply Chains as Cyber-Physical Systems: a Path for More Sustainable Personalized Nutrition

Current food system evolved in a great degree because of the development of processing and food engineering technologies: people learned to bake bread long before the advent of agriculture; salting and smoking supported nomad lifestyles; canning allowed for longer military marches; etc. Food processing technologies went through evolution and significant optimization and currently rely on minor fraction of energy comparing with initial prototypes. Emerging processing technologies (high-pressure, pulsed electric fields, ohmic heating, ultrasound) and novel food systems (cultured biomass, 3-D bioprinting, cyber-physical chains) try to challenge the existing chains by developing potentially more nutritious and sustainable food solutions. However, new food systems rely on low technology readiness levels and estimation of their potential future benefits or drawbacks is a complex task mostly due to the lack of integrated data. The research is aimed for the development of conceptual guidelines of food production system structuring as cyber-physical systems. The study indicates that cyber-physical nature of modern food is a key for the engineering of more nutritious and sustainable paths for novel food systems. Implementation of machine learning methods for the collection, integration, and analysis of data associated with biomass production and processing on different levels from molecular to global, leads to the precise analysis of food systems and estimation of upscaling benefits, as well as possible negative rebound effects associated with societal attitude. Moreover, such data-integrated assessment systems allow transparency of chains, integration of nutritional and environmental properties, and construction of personalized nutrition technologies.