# Digitalization and Future Agro-Food Supply Chain Management: A Literature-Based Implications
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Major Problems in the Agro-Food Supply Chain Addressed by Digitalization (Main Application Areas)
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{142.3 pt} p{284.5 pt}} \hline \hline
**Source** & **Research Outcome from Concluding Remarks in a Single Statement (Focus of the Digitalization Concept and Main Problem/s Addressed)** \\ \hline
[82] & Smart technologies as tools can lead to customization of sustainable food supply chains. \\ \hline
[83] & Blockchain enables sustainability performance of supply chains and promotes United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). \\ \hline
[51] & Information \& communication technology (ICT) can contribute to agro-food sustainability transition. \\ \hline
[84] & A data-driven analysis framework that considers multiple aspects of food supply chains can help move sustainable planning beyond the traceability objective. \\ \hline
[85] & Frameworks of Industry 4.0 and models, algorithms, heuristics, and metaheuristics technologies can enable sustainability in food supply chains. \\ \hline
[86] & Artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies can help create sustainable business models that increase productivity, reduce production costs and emissions, and improve correspondence in markets. \\ \hline
[55] & Blockchain plays a vital role in food system sustainability. \\ \hline
[87] & Cloud computing provides useful metadata for digital certifications using global positioning system (GPS) and other sensor technologies, and satisfies the objectives of the sustainable business model by reducing transaction costs and strengthening alliances between stakeholders. \\ \hline
[88] & GIS-based analysis integrated with current data streaming and blockchain platforms enhances trust and sustainable integration of food supply chains. \\ \hline
[89] & A framework driven by AI technologies can contribute to sustainable financing stream for food and drink supply chains. \\ \hline
[90] & Blockchain technology has the potential to improve supply chain sustainability in the areas of environmental protection, social equity, and governance efficiency indicators. \\ \hline
[41] & In some regions, the current adoption of digital agriculture appears to be driven more by economic sustainability than by social or environmental sustainability, so efforts by policymakers and stakeholders are needed. \\ \hline
[91] & Digitalization and use of smart technologies (IoT, robots, AI, blockchain) in agriculture enable transition of the sector to sustainability in all its three forms: economic, social, and environmental. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: _Cont._However, due to conceptual interactions in performance standards along the food supply chains and difficulty in setting clear boundaries between performance objectives, there were overlaps of focus areas. Moreover, many papers discussed more than one performance issue. Therefore, the organization of concluding remarks by the main area of applications in Tables 2-4 are simply to highlight how digitalization served the different key performance areas of the food system. Table 3 presents the sustainability related concluding remarks. As can be observed from Table 3, the reviewed literature showed that food system digitalization has a paramount contribution in achieving sustainability targets along the food supply chains. The concluding remarks from reviewed articles revealed that the use of digital technologies in food systems are helping to achieve the social, economic, and environmental sustainability targets. The results in Table 3, suggest the use of digital technologies along the food chain enables to achieve not only the sustainability targets but also the overall food security and safety targets. Table 4 reports the main concluding remarks of the reviewed articles, which show diversified targets addressed through food system digitalization along the agro-food supply chains. The results in Table 4 revealed that digitalization of the food system helped in improving productivity, product quality, safety, and encouraged business model innovations.