Tag: digitalisation

This paper reviews food safety within the agri-food supply chain (AFSC) literature and presents a comprehensive framework for understanding how digitalisation has reshaped food safety practices within the AFSC. Its significant contribution lies in its identification of novel research streams in food safety that are underpinned by digitalisation techniques, a focus that can be expected to benefit both academic researchers and practitioners who are seeking solutions to pressing challenges related to the efficient achievement of food safety goals. In this paper, the powerful bibliometric analysis capabilities of Biblioshiny and VosViewer were utilised to conduct a comprehensive review of the relevant literature. Biblioshiny’s strengths in data visualisation and network analysis were instrumental in identifying key trends and patterns in the research, while VosViewer’s ability to create insightful maps of collaboration networks provided valuable insights into the relationships between researchers and institutions. The evolution of the published reviews from the past 10 years and the trending AFSC articles were thus revealed. The used databases were Web of Science and SCOPUS. Based on bibliometric coupling, the identified seven underlying research streams are (a) traceability challenges in AFSC, (b) quality management in AFSC, (c) Agri-food 4.0, (d) future trends of AFSC, (e) impact of ...

This paper provides insights into the information behaviour of European farmers, foresters, and advisors in the context of the ongoing digital transformation. Data collection and analysis for this study were carried out as part of a substantial innovation project to create a new online knowledge platform, called EU FarmBook, for primary sector practitioners. Besides informing the design and development of this user-centred platform, this study also provides useful inputs to better understand the perceived information needs, preferences, and information behaviour of primary sector practitioners, which is an underexplored area of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) in Europe. This paper presents and draws on 40 semi-structured interviews conducted with farmers, foresters, and advisors from 20 different countries. The results reveal some of the major ways in which the rapid advancements in digital information and communication technologies have affected farmers, foresters, and advisors. The problem-solving strategies of primary sector practitioners now rely largely on online resources. Searches for photos and videos have become a particularly integral activity that reflects their practice-oriented and solve-it-yourself attitudes. This has implications for agricultural extension services, which must be prepared for the challenges and changes that the digital revolution will bring to extension work.

This paper discusses the results of a study on the digitalisation of the agri-food sector in a French region characterised by small- and medium-sized farms. Our results, which rely on a survey comparing digital practices in the agri-food sector with other sectors, reveal a paradox. While digitalisation is mostly perceived as a panacea capable of increasing agricultural productivity while respecting the planet, it is not widespread in the agri-food sector and even less than in other sectors of the same size. At the same time, the perceived impact of digitalisation is also lower than in other sectors. To increase the digitalisation of this sector, two elements emerge from our results: both the implementation of a global digital transformation strategy and membership of a professional association are required. Here, we refer to a broad definition of digitalisation, which includes organisational and social aspects, and does not only address technological dimensions. Our study challenges the technocentric and productive vision of digitalisation. It suggests that farmers’ institutional environments and policies need to take a more holistic view of digitalisation to provide increased sense and generate engagement.