Modelling enablers for building agri-food supply chain resilience: insights from a comparative analysis of Argentina and France

Abstract

Smooth, efficient agri-food supply chain (AFSC) operations are becoming ever more difficult due to more intense and frequent natural disasters and man-made disruptions. Helping AFSCs to survive disturbances requires re-consideration of how to build their resilience. This study addresses this issue through a cross-country comparative analysis involving interviews with AFSC practitioners, thematic analysis to generate agri-food supply chain resilience (AFSCRes) capability factors, total interpretive structural modelling (TISM) to establish interrelationships among the factors, cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis to categorise the factors, and comparative analysis. The results reveal that contractual restraints regulating farmers’ opportunistic behaviour and regular interactions are key factors for building AFSCRes in France and Argentina, respectively. This study also confirms the critical role of farmers’ associations and coordinated activities amongst all AFSC stakeholders to build AFSCRes. For triggering AFSCRes, farmers’ resilience must be particularly prioritised, as they are the least resilient point in AFSCs.