Uncovering research streams on agri-food supply chain management: A bibliometric study

This study carried out a bibliometric analysis to critically review the evolution of the agri-food supply chain (AFSC) research field over the period of 2008–2019. A set of 1236 articles was analyzed from the Web of Science database. Besides using different analytical scientometric tools (topic mapping, co-citation, co-authorship and overlay visualization networks), this study identified frequently-used keywords, new and hot research topics and frequently-studied supply chain management (SCM) practices. Frequently used keywords are food supply chain, food waste, sustainability, food safety, SCM, food industry, and food security. New research themes include contract, blockchain, internet of things, resilience, and short food supply chain, a topic that demands further research especially due to the international COVID-19 pandemic and the need of farmers to be closer to the consumers. Hot research topics, that is, subjects that have been studied in highly cited papers were also identified include life cycle assessment, environmental impact, packaging, water use, food waste prevention, food waste generation, blockchain and carbon footprint. Among SCM practices, this study observed that risk and sustainable SCM are frequently used keywords. Procurement and reverse logistics were observed in fewer studies. SCM, food waste, food quality, GHG emissions and risk management are sustainable SCM practices frequently observed.