The impact of blockchain technology on enhancing sustainability in the agri-food sector: A scoping review

Blockchain unlocking collaborative opportunities for environmental sustainability through innovation intermediaries

“…This type of database provides a decentralized and secure infrastructure for tracing and tracking products, services and transactions (Saberi et al, 2019). Recent studies have started looking into the contribution of BCT to both environmental (Giganti et al, 2024) and social sustainability, across diverse dimensions, including community welfare, regional development, employability, humanitarian supply chains, fraud migration, and animal health (Munir et al, 2022). Because BCT promotes data sharing, transparency, trust development and monitoring across the entire product lifecycle (Friedman & Ormiston, 2022;Parmentola et al, 2022;Saberi et al, 2019;Upadhyay et al, 2021), environmental sustainability is enhanced through the reduction of carbon emissions, improved waste management, and better environmental impact monitoring (Giganti et al, 2024).…”

“…Recent studies have started looking into the contribution of BCT to both environmental (Giganti et al, 2024) and social sustainability, across diverse dimensions, including community welfare, regional development, employability, humanitarian supply chains, fraud migration, and animal health (Munir et al, 2022). Because BCT promotes data sharing, transparency, trust development and monitoring across the entire product lifecycle (Friedman & Ormiston, 2022;Parmentola et al, 2022;Saberi et al, 2019;Upadhyay et al, 2021), environmental sustainability is enhanced through the reduction of carbon emissions, improved waste management, and better environmental impact monitoring (Giganti et al, 2024). Moreover, social sustainability is fostered by ensuring food safety, consumer trust, and financial inclusion for small firms Giganti et al, 2024) and vulnerable populations, 1 Environmental sustainability is defined as a state of equilibrium, resilience, and interconnectivity enabling human society to meet its needs without surpassing the regeneration capabilities of its ecosystems or reducing biological diversity (Morelli, 2011).…”

“…Although BCT application for environmental sustainability is still evolving (Esmaeilian et al, 2020;Giganti et al, 2024), its potential contribution looks promising especially in the field of energy production (Swiatek et al, 2017), waste management (Clohessy & Acton, 2019), green logistics and transportation (Esmaeilian et al, 2020), and the agri-food supply chain (Compagnucci et al, 2022), where it can also contribute to social cohesion and equitable access to resources by strengthening interactions between consumers and firms (Giganti et al, 2024). Nevertheless, most SMEs are not exploiting the "green" potential of BCT (Ghobakhloo & Ching, 2019;OECD, 2018OECD, , 2019 for several reasons, highlighted in the literature.…”

Efficiency of the Integrated Production Systems: Evidence from the Winegrowing Firms in Italy

“…Indeed, the producers' revenue should be supported through the promotion of grape and wine products in quality and niche supply chains, and also by strengthening the certification system [67]. This last point, in addition to the EU schemes of geographical indications, namely the protected designation of origin (PDO) and the protected geographical indication (PGI), as well as the certifications related to organic and integrated production systems, could be integrated by the certification of origin based on DNA techniques certified by blockchain [68]. As concerns environmental sustainability, it is possible to improve the knowledge and skills of producers regarding the most innovative technologies, aimed at making the use of technical inputs more efficient [69].…”