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This paper aims to analyse how local agri-food systems (LAFS), compared to other production models, can offer innovative responses to the important environmental challenges facing food production under the twin transition. These responses are more conducive to community inclusion and local development.

The paper combines territorial development, clusters and industrial districts literature with studies on agri-food industry environmental problems and twin transition technologies to develop an agri-food systems typology. This typology is based on a territorial approach to environmental challenges of food production and serves to illustrate the ways in which LAFS can provide innovative responses to these challenges.

The study allows to visualise the differences between LAFS and other agri-food production models, showing how the operationalisation and implementation of digitisation occur at territorial level and how rural communities are involved in the process. The theoretical proposal emphasises not assuming that technology is inherently beneficial but ensuring that its implementation is inclusive and generates social value for the communities.

The paper aims to enrich future research by adopting a territorial perspective to study the twin transition challenges associated with food production systems.

Since Greece became a member of the EU and after the implementation of plethora of structural funds programs regarding the agricultural sector, the situation has remained more or less the same as far as the structural characteristics of the agricultural sector is concerned.

The agricultural sector in Greece accounts for €6.67 billion and contributes 4.3% to the total GVA which is double compared with the average European one (1.6%). The Agricultural Factor income per annual work unit (AWU) has reached 94% of the EU average. During the economic crisis (2009–2013) the value of this index decreased 22% while in the next years an upward trend followed and in 2019 reached the same level as before the economic crisis. During the period 2005–2018, productivity in Greece showed moderate and negative TFP growth numbers while in the same period, the TFP growth was stronger in the EU presenting an increase of 10%. The trade balance of agri-food products in Greece is negative, although recently this trade deficit has been reduced following an improvement in the agri-food sector's export performance. The value of agri-food products exports amount to €6.04 billion, which are the third largest category of exported goods. Also, the value of exports of manufactured products rose 70% during the period 2009–2019 against the exports of commodities, which also rose with a lower rate (25%), something that it is positive for the Greek economy, given the higher added value of manufactured products. Under the current Common Agricultural Policy Action Plan (2014–2020), Greece has a guaranteed flow of around €20 billion for direct support of agricultural income through direct payments (Pillar I) and has earmarked €15 billion and the remaining €5 billion under the Rural Development Program, (Pillar II). However, the direct payments are not allocated fairly.

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis hit the entire Greek economy and the agri-food sector which has just recovered from the recent economic crisis. However, during this crisis, the Greek agro-food chain has demonstrated great resilience to guarantee the supply of food to consumers. In the era of COVID-19, the key factors that can be employed by agri-food industry as a strategy for penetrating in global markets, are (1) Focus on developed markets, (2) Marketing in branded form (not bulk), and ideally emphasis on the uniqueness of the raw material, and (3) Sufficient volume of products to gain a leading share in the premium segment of the market. In addition, knowledge and innovation have a key role to play in helping farmers and rural communities meet future challenges. Finally, the only way in order to achieve economies of scale in the agri-food sector is to increase the level of cooperation at all levels by any available means.

The managerial questions of this paper are as follows, and the authors are trying to solve them: How revenue sharing contract (CSR) degree and government subsidy affect the agri-food quality? What kind of model (WPC, revenue-sharing contract [RSC] and cooperative) would be more effective in motivating manufacturers and retailer to increase effort and improve agri-food quality? What kind of model (WPC, RSC and cooperative) would make manufacturer and retailer better off?

Considering the jointing quality effort and contract decision in green agri-food supply chain, this paper proposes six models that consider CSR of manufacturer and retailer, and then the obtained optimal solutions are compared and analyzed. At the same time, the impact of government subsidies is analyzed, and corresponding conclusions are drawn.

The results show that, first of all, whether the increasing CSR of the manufacturer or the retailer can motivate both parties to improve the agri-food quality effort investment. Second, the WPC and RSC contract may play different role in different cases. Finally, under the model with government subsidies, regarding positive influence of government subsidies on efforts of manufacturer and retailer, quality and profits of members is investigated. Based on these conclusions, this study puts forward the following policy suggestions. Firstly, governments should formulate reasonable subsidy policies to support manufacturer and retailer to improve the agri-food quality, thereby promoting green industries' development. Secondly, manufacturer and retailer should actively improve CSR and strengthen the effort of agri-food so as to advance quality. Finally, manufacturer and retailer can choose cooperative model or WPC contract.

In this paper, one manufacturer and one retailer are considered. Since the agri-food supply chain structure in reality is more complicated, the future research direction can consider the supply chain structure with one manufacturer and multiple retailers. In addition, this paper only considers the subsidy, and future research can classify the subsidy into different types.

The study makes two substantive contributions to the body of knowledge in the field of sustainable operations:(1) incorporating quality-based demand function in supply chain and dynamic process of agri-food quality; (2) exploring the impact of CSR awareness of members and subsidy of government on agri-food quality, and comparing the influence in different models.

The food supply chain has faced many challenges due to its complex and complicated nature. Blockchain technology is one of the mechanisms used to improve agri-food supply chain processes by evolving organization capabilities. A study is being conducted to scrutinize the adoption of blockchain technology in the agri-food supply chain through the lens of the operational capability approach. It further makes an attempt to identify the capabilities of blockchain to improve supply chain processes.

The qualitative research method with semi-structured interviews was used to gather information from experts and professionals in the food supply chain and blockchain technology. The authors have adopted a systematic approach of coding using open, axial and selective methods to depict and identify the themes that represent the blockchain-enabled agri-food supply chain. The data were collected from 32 interviews of selected participants.

The result shows five critical areas where blockchain can come up to enhance the agri-food supply chain performance by providing traceability, transparency, information security, transactions, and trust and quality. Further, the study reveals that blockchain will provide safety, lower the cost of transactions and can create trust among users to communicate within the whole supply chain without the intervention of a third party. This study demonstrated that the capabilities need to be considered when introducing technology into the practice.

The study implies thought-provoking implications for bridging the theory-practice gap by examining the empirical data to demonstrate how the operational capabilities of blockchain technology further strengthen the agri-food supply chain. Additionally, this study provides some suggestions for utilizing the results and proposes a framework to understand more about blockchain use cases in the agri-food supply chain as well as extend the application of blockchain using an operational capability approach for future academic researchers in this area.

This study presented some more important managerial implications which reveal that the majority of organisations were in the initial stages of adoption process of blockchain technology. Further, the positive influence of managers and IT experts can help the information technology companies (IT) and stakeholders for developing and promoting blockchain solutions in the agri-food supply chain. The important implication of blockchain enabled agri-food supply chain is to maintain information security and incresae supply chain performance.

The study shows the operational capabilities of agri-food supply chain using blockchain technology. Blockchain can contribute in enhancing the agri-food supply chain to increase traceability and transparency and helps to reduce the risk of disruptions.

Public food procurement (PFP) plays an important role in establishing agri-food systems. The study explores local food system stakeholders' response to PFP interventions by addressing the question of how PFP transforms agri-food systems and how this new agri-food ecosystem is governed.

This article presents and discusses a unique case study of Jeonbuk, a rural province in South Korea, which successfully transformed its agri-food system into an ecosystem through its sustainability-oriented innovations (SOIs) among born ecopreneur farmers. This case not only offers insights into a novel way to create value chains through legislative, executive and judicial governance but also extends the body of knowledge on agri-food systems by introducing the concept of an agri-food ecosystem.

The findings indicate the importance of the ecosystem governance and knowledge exchange among internal and external ecosystem stakeholders. In particular, PFP institutions play a crucial role in facilitating the operation of public meal centers and cooperation among actors.

Taking an ecosystem lens to agri-food systems may offer agricultural cooperatives a wider perspective and better understanding of the governance structures necessary to successfully execute public interventions. Lastly, the Korean case differs from other developing countries, but its role model qualities could help to implement successful school meal programs elsewhere.

This paper reviewed and applied a conceptual framework aimed at identifying the role of PFP institutions in the value chain governance by studying a case study of a South Korean local school meal program. The study further extends the agricultural cooperatives research and contributes to a better understanding of the role of a municipality and an agri-food intermediary in the governance process involving producers and kitchens.

Blockchain technology can overcome many complicated problems related to confidentiality, integrity and availability of fast and secure distributed systems in the agri-food supply chain. In emerging economies like India, blockchain application in the agri-food supply chain is still new, and their adoption is underdeveloped. This paper aims to investigate the drivers of blockchain technology adoption and their effect on the behavioral intention of stakeholders in adopting blockchain technology among various stakeholders in the agri-food supply chain. The study also develops a framework to enhance understanding of blockchain adoption in the agri-food supply chain as well as the stakeholders' motivation in seeking blockchain solutions.

Considering the most significant aspects of blockchain adoption in the agri-food supply chain, this study attempts to develop an adoption model by using the extended unified theory of acceptance and technology model with interfirm trust and transparency as additional factors. Data was collected from a sample of 200 stakeholders in the North Indian state of Punjab. The empirical analysis was carried out using structural equation modeling in Smart PLS3.

The findings supported the developed framework and the results of SEM indicate that all the paths are supported. In particular, the findings of the study reveal that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, interfirm trust and transparency are the drivers of blockchain adoption and have a significant impact on the behavioral intention of stakeholders. Cumulatively, the results positively impact the performance of agri-food supply chain. From this study, it is found that the adoption of blockchain technology in agri-food supply chain enhances their performance.

The originality of the study lies in the developed framework, technology adoption will help them focus in the right direction by eliminating manual methods and converting the agri-food supply chain into a digitalization system.

This study aimed to develop the integration of the multiperiod production-distribution model in a closed-loop supply chain involving carbon emission and traceability. The developed model was for agricultural food (agri-food) products, considering the reverse flow of food waste from the disposal center (composting center) to producers.

The results indicate that integrating the production and distribution model considering food waste recycling provides low carbon emissions in lower total costs. The sensitivity analysis also found that there are trade-offs between production and distribution rate and food waste levels on carbon emission and traceability.

This study focuses on the mathematical modeling of a multiperiod production-distribution formulation for a closed-loop supply chain.

The model of the agri-food closed-loop supply chain in this study that considers food recycling and carbon emissions would help stakeholders involved in the agri-food supply chain to reduce food waste and carbon emissions.

This study aims to analyse how the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies can help different types of agri-food supply chains introduce and manage innovations in response to the challenges and opportunities that emerged following the COVID-19 pandemic.

A systematic literature review methodology was used to bring together the most relevant contributions from different disciplines and provide comprehensive results on the use of I4.0 technologies in the agri-food industry.

Four technological clusters are identified, which group together the I4.0 technologies based on the applications in the agri-food industry, the objectives and the advantages provided. In addition, three types of agri-food supply chains have been identified and their configuration and dynamics have been studied. Finally, the I4.0 technologies most suited for each type of supply chain have been identified, and suggestions on how to effectively introduce and manage innovations at different levels of the supply chain are provided.

The study highlights how the effective adoption of I4.0 technologies in the agri-food industry depends on the characteristics of the supply chains. Technologies can be used for different purposes and managers should carefully consider the objectives to be achieved and the synergies between technologies and supply chain dynamics.

This paper aims to systematically review the literature on quality management in agri-food supply chains (SCs) and propose an integrated conceptual framework.

A systematic literature review that analyses 93 papers in peer-reviewed academic journals published from 1996 to November 2021 is conducted. A conceptual model is advanced.

Based on a hierarchy of capabilities perspective, the authors develop an integrated conceptual framework in which SC quality (SCQ) management practices promote three levels of SC dynamic capabilities, which in turn lead to agri-food SCQ performance.

The authors propose a hierarchy of capabilities perspective of quality management in agri-food SCs and develop a conceptual framework. Furthermore, a number of propositions based on dynamic capabilities and the review findings are provided. Four future research directions are presented.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze gaps and trends, as well suggest approaches and methodologies that should be addressed by future studies for implementing the lean and green management in the agri-food sector.

Based on a sample with 117 papers, this paper presents a systematic review on the integration of lean and green in the agri-food sector.

Key findings indicate that research on lean and green topics has increased in recent years, an important gap in the integration of lean and green in the agri-food sector has been identified. Two paths that remain open for further research are detected: the lack of theoretical, prescriptive and quantitative research and the possibility of integrating the two most used tools of lean (i.e. value stream mapping) and green (i.e. life-cycle assessment).

This study does not only advance the theoretical knowledge of the lean and green field, but it is also beneficial for agri-food companies who aim to effectively deploy lean and green in their processes in order to improve both operational and environmental performances.

No other industry matches in such a complete way the agri-food industry’s challenge of sustainability that is due to the amount of resources it consumes and its interrelatedness with the well-being of humanity.

There are separate streams of established research on lean and green management in the agri-food sector, yet very few authors have addressed the intersection of these strategic initiatives.