From waste to resilience: policy development for digital transformation of Agri-food supply chains in developing economies

Abstract

Agri-food supply chains in developing economies play a critical role in food security and farmer livelihoods, yet they remain fragmented, inefficient, and highly vulnerable to disruptions. As a result, they are often unable to meet dynamic demand patterns, increasing risks to food security and farmer livelihoods. Due to these characteristics, these supply chains are referred to as traditional agri-food supply chains because they tend to be more labour-intensive and fragmented. These systemic inefficiencies not only undermine resilience and sustainability but also limit equitable benefit distribution among smallholder farmers and consumers. Therefore, this doctoral research explores how digital transformation can be leveraged as a policy-driven strategy to modernise agri-food supply chains, enhance resilience, and strengthen food security in developing economies. This study adopts the traditional vegetable supply chain in Sri Lanka as the primary case study. The adopted methodology is case study oriented, emphasising practical implementation and real-world impact. The research study comprises three main phases as problem identification, a comparison between the “current state” and “future state” for policy integration, and solution formulation. This resulted in the following: 1) systematic identification of waste drivers and circular economy-based mitigation strategies; 2) a fuzzy inference system-based risk assessment framework aligned with ISO 31000:2018; 3) a performance measurement framework for data-scarce environments using price volatility as a proxy, introducing the Agri-Food Volatility Balanced Scorecard; and 4) a conceptual digital governance model to regulate and coordinate agri-food supply chains in developing economies. The findings demonstrate how digital transformation, when aligned with regulatory oversight and evidence-based policy design, can significantly reduce waste, stabilise prices, and improve coordination among stakeholders. Ultimately, this research provides actionable insights and policy pathways for transitioning traditional agri-food supply chains in developing economies into sustainable, resilient, and digitally enabled systems, thereby safeguarding food security and improving farmer livelihoods in developing economies