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The world is experiencing technological disruptions due to the dynamic business environment, technological advancements, customer preferences, increasing competitive pressure, globalization of supply chains, and environmental disruptions. Industry 4.0 technologies are paving the way for increased production efficiency and worker safety while optimizing resource utilization and improving sustainability. Industry 4.0 technologies find their applications in almost all sectors, but few studies explore industry 4.0 technologies in agriculture. The agri-food sector has experienced an upward trend in digitalization projects. The digital agri-food supply chains will help in the autonomous decision-making process, leading to enhanced visibility in the agri-food supply chains through real-time traceability solutions, thereby leading to improved food quality. It is anticipated that industry 4.0 technologies in the agri-food supply chains will impact climate change disruptions and improve the unequal distribution of resources in the agricultural sector. The present study highlights various industry 4.0 technologies and their applications in the agri-food supply chains. Based on the findings from a literature review, the study establishes 10 key performance indicators that will benefit decision-making in a digital, data-centered environment.

From the perspective of any nation, rural areas generally present a comparable set of problems, such as a lack of proper healthcare, education, living conditions, wages and market opportunities. Some nations have created and developed the concept of smart villages during the previous few decades, which effectively addresses these issues. The landscape of traditional agriculture has been radically altered by digital agriculture, which has also had a positive economic impact on farmers and those who live in rural regions by ensuring an increase in agricultural production. We explored current issues in rural areas, and the consequences of smart village applications, and then illustrate our concept of smart village from recent examples of how emerging digital agriculture trends contribute to improving agricultural production in this chapter.

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insight and analysis into E-commerce in China and how it has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society. Split into four distinct sections, the book first lays out the theoretical foundations and fundamental concepts of E-Business before moving on to look at internet+ innovation models and their applications in different industries such as agriculture, finance and commerce. The book then provides a comprehensive analysis of E-business platforms and their applications in China before finishing with four comprehensive case studies of major E-business projects, providing readers with successful examples of implementing E-Business entrepreneurship projects.

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insights and analysis into how E-commerce has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society in China.

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the impact of public agricultural Research and Development (R&D) investments on agricultural productivity and long-term food security to derive policy recommendations. The methodological approach is based on the application of the state-of-the art Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to R&D. By endogenizing R&D in global CGE models, it is possible to assess the impact of different public R&D policies on the food availability and food access of food security. This study found that R&D investments bring positive effects on the food access dimension of food security, particularly in places such as Sub-Saharan Africa where prices are expected to grow significantly by 2050, as agricultural land becomes scarcer and more expensive. Doubling the R&D intensity would soften the land constraints and substantially decelerate food prices, thus preventing the deterioration of living standards of rural households and leading to a gain in daily caloric consumption. The impact of alternative agricultural R&D policies on the various dimensions of food security has not been analyzed using a CGE framework, which enables capturing both the benefits and costs from R&D investments. Modeling the dynamic accumulation of R&D stocks makes it possible to analyze the effects of R&D on food security over time.

Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured supply chain practices, lack of awareness of the implications of the sustainability concept and failure to recycle poultry wastes. The current research thus attempts to develop an integrated supply chain model in the context of poultry industry in Bangladesh. The study considers both sustainability and supply chain issues in order to incorporate them in the poultry supply chain. By placing the forward and reverse supply chains in a single framework, existing problems can be resolved to gain economic, social and environmental benefits, which will be more sustainable than the present practices.

The theoretical underpinning of this research is ‘sustainability’ and the ‘supply chain processes’ in order to examine possible improvements in the poultry production process along with waste management. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and ‘design science’ methods with the support of system dynamics (SD) and the case study methods. Initially, a mental model is developed followed by the causal loop diagram based on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation techniques. The causal model helps to understand the linkages between the associated variables for each issue. Finally, the causal loop diagram is transformed into a stock and flow (quantitative) model, which is a prerequisite for SD-based simulation modelling. A decision support system (DSS) is then developed to analyse the complex decision-making process along the supply chains.

The findings reveal that integration of the supply chain can bring economic, social and environmental sustainability along with a structured production process. It is also observed that the poultry industry can apply the model outcomes in the real-life practices with minor adjustments. This present research has both theoretical and practical implications. The proposed model’s unique characteristics in mitigating the existing problems are supported by the sustainability and supply chain theories. As for practical implications, the poultry industry in Bangladesh can follow the proposed supply chain structure (as par the research model) and test various policies via simulation prior to its application. Positive outcomes of the simulation study may provide enough confidence to implement the desired changes within the industry and their supply chain networks.

Supply of food from the early stages of societies was one of the most important needs of humans. Sustainable supply of food is a demand in modern societies. The agri-food market grows as the population rises every year. The increase in the demand side of the market is more than the growth of the supply side. The rate of using technology in the supply side is increasing rapidly. By using technology in some parts, the efficiency of production improved and caused more production while resources are the same. Availability of resources in different areas causes different ways of production and nurturing innovative technologies to maintain food security. Water, soil, climate change, and growth of population are drivers of using technology in food security. To depict the role of different technologies in the food industry, the authors have reviewed the role of the most important technologies in this field. Knowing the trends of changes in the industry will help to focus on the most important questions and solutions. Having a share in the global food market requires the major use of technology in production processes. In this chapter, the authors will review the most important trends of technology absorption in the food industry.