Narrative Synthesis of the Economic Impact of Agricultural Supply Chain and Distribution Networks on Output

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this study was to analyze the role of different supply chain players in agri-business and their effect on farmers’ output, to arrive at a feasible model of supply network intended for optimizing the surplus in these agri-business supply chains.   Theoretical framework: A lot of literature is already published on agricultural supply chains and distribution networks but the intention of this study is to understand and explore the economic impact on output.   Design/methodology/approach: According to (Denyer and Tranfield, 2009), a systematic review is a procedure that identifies prior research, chooses and assesses contributions, analyses and synthesizes data, and presents the findings in a way that enables reasonably clear conclusions to be drawn about what is known and what is unknown. Accordingly, a five-step approach proposed by them is adopted for this research review, which is illustrated below.   Findings: The review of existing literature helped in forming the following categories of researched material, with different contributions to research: Technological factors affecting supply chain decisions of agricultural produce Optimization techniques applied to distribution networks Farmers’ integration in value-chain and inter-dependencies of players   Research, Practical and Social Implications: The study paves way for the identification of an action plan based on the studies on economic impact and also provides future research direction.   Originality/Value: No previous work on economic impact analysis of agricultural supply chains is done till now.