Analysis of the Drivers of Industry 4.0 Technology Deployment to Achieve Agri-Food Supply Chain Sustainability: A Hybrid Approach

Abstract

Agri-food supply chains (AFSCs) are struggling to achieve sustainability in the face of increasing social, environmental, and economic challenges. Industry 4.0 technologies are widely deployed to monitor, assess, and analyze their operational process, and thereby drive sustainable value. This study adopts a hybrid approach to analyze the drivers of industry 4.0 technology deployment to achieve AFSC sustainability. Thematic analysis of 24 interviews was carried out to identify 13 drivers, and these were used as inputs into the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP), total interpretive structural modeling (TISM), and fuzzy cross-impact matrix multiplications applied to classification (MICMAC). The results show that enhancing efficiency of water and fertilizer use, reducing carbon emissions, and reducing work intensity contribute significantly to economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability. We also identify that government subsidies for agricultural facilities and strengthening of farmers' agri-tech skills are key drivers that should be given priority.