Blockchain drivers to achieve sustainable food security in the Indian context

• Published in: Annals of operations research 2023-08, Vol.327 (1), p.211-249
• Main Authors: Yadav, Vinay Surendra, Singh, A. R., Raut, Rakesh D., Cheikhrouhou, Naoufel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Blockchain; Business and Management; Combinatorics; Context; Cryptography; Decision making; Food safety; Food security; Food supply; Literature reviews; Multiple criterion; Operations research; Operations Research/Decision Theory; Original Research; Security programs; Supply chains; Sustainability; Theory of Computation
• ISSN: 0254-5330; 1572-9338
• DOI: 10.1007/s10479-021-04308-5

Blockchain has the potential to improve sustainable food security due to its unique features like traceability, decentralized and immutable database, and smart contract mechanisms. However, blockchain technology is still in the early stages of adoption in particular in agricultural applications. In this context, this article aims to identify blockchain drivers to achieve sustainable food security in the Indian context and model them using an integrated MCDM (Multiple Criteria Decision Making) approach. The blockchain adoption drivers are identified through an exhaustive literature review and opinions from domain experts from industry, academia, and Agriculture Supply Chain (ASC) stakeholders. Subsequently, the integrated MCDM approach is developed by combining Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM) and Fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), which does not only investigate the interrelation between the identified constructs and builds hierarchy but also determines the intensity of the causal interrelationships. At a later stage, Fuzzy Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC) is used to cluster the identified drivers to evaluate the importance of each driver. The results reveal that Traceability, Real-time information availability to agro-stakeholder, and Decentralized and immutable database are the most significant drivers. Policymakers, governmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders may utilize the information about the interrelationship between these drivers and their influential power, to frame suitable strategies for enhancing the adoption rate of blockchain in the Indian ASC.