Conceptual Study of Problems And Challenges Associated With The Food Supply Chain in Developing Countries

Abstract

Purpose: The food supply chain (FSC) is a sequence of linkages and interdependencies that encompass a wide range of disciplines, from farms to food to consumer’s plates. Food supply chain management (FSCM) unites the major disciplines, aimed at providing an understanding of the supply chain (SC), supporting managers of the chain components, and improving the development activities of research in the SC. Method: Narrative review was conducted using available literature on Google Scholar and Scopus database. Results: In developing countries, many factors act as barriers to maintaining effective FSC. The potential reasons include the absence of infrastructure for cold chains and the lack of modern processing facilities that result in the highest inadequacies and losses of food and its allied products. Moreover, the whole FSC is loaded with various problems including quality and safety of products, poor SC connection, and cost-related issues. The important hindrance is “mandi systems (local word of wholesale markets)” that are entirely obsolete and ineffective in reducing food losses. Other issues include traceability problems, fair trading, technological issues, financial issues, processing, and value addition. Conclusion: Blending new and innovative models of FSC with mandi systems can decrease food waste and losses and further improve the income of producers and processors. Keywords: Food supply chain, management, developing countries, traceability, food waste.