Application of Blockchain Disruptive Technology in Agri-Food Chains for Sustainable Development, a Systematic Review

The importance of applying disruptive technologies to improve the efficiency of different processes within the agri-food chain for sustainable development is increasing day by day. In the current scenario, agri-food chains face disruptions caused by the consequences of COVID-19 or the War in Ukraine, resulting in reduced quality, availability, transparency, trust, and security of different food products within the distribution chain. This paper aims to map the convergence between the use of Blockchain technology for sustainable development and agri-food chains. The specific objectives are pointing to key co-occurrence networks and clusters, mapping the emerging thematic axes from the literature, showcasing key authors and journals, and organizing the collected data based on economic, social, and environmental (three pillars of sustainability). The research design is organized using Systematic Review Methodology. The originality of this review includes the verification of data performance through bibliometric and the organization and analysis of the identified articles based on the dimensions of sustainability. The findings show that the adoption and use of Blockchain technology improve supply chain sustainability performance and point to a developing trend in the area under study. There is a high concentration of theoretical contributions, with the environmental dimension being less addressed. A detailed analysis of the findings is presented to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date view of agri-food chains, Blockchain, and sustainable development. Furthermore, this work offers research opportunities to develop new research based on Blockchain and sustainable development.