Risk Management in Agrifood Supply Chains: The Role of Technological Innovation

ABSTRACT

Agrifood supply chains are increasingly exposed to environmental, operational, and food safety risks, while technological innovation is attracting growing attention for its potential to improve supply chain resilience and management. However, limited attention has been devoted to understanding how technological applications may contribute to mitigating specific risks affecting agrifood supply chains. This study examines the relationship between technological innovation and risk management in agrifood supply chains. To this end, the main risks relevant to technological innovation are identified based on the literature, then prioritised through expert evaluation using a fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process. Next, we examine how technological applications may contribute to mitigating specific risk categories. The findings show that risks can be organised into categories relating to environmental conditions and natural resource availability, food safety and product authenticity, data and information management, and supply chain activities. The results highlight the relevance of food safety and environmental risks, as well as vulnerabilities related to traceability, logistics, and information management. Moreover, the study shows how technological applications may contribute to mitigating specific risks, particularly by improving information availability, traceability, monitoring, and coordination. This study contributes to the literature by providing a conceptual classification of the main risk categories affecting agrifood supply chains in relation to technological innovation and by analysing the connections between technological applications and risk management. From a practical perspective, the findings offer useful insights for practitioners and policymakers to orient technological innovation towards the mitigation of specific supply chain risks.