The inefficiency of food supply chain is a critical challenge of the global food system. Improving the efficiency and sustainability of food supply chain is essential to ensure food security and poverty reduction. The purpose of this study is to define efficiency and sustainability from the context of food supply chains and develop a conceptual framework illustrating the relationship among factors that influence efficiency and sustainability of food supply chain. The systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines through encompassing 44 research articles published between 2020 and 2024 in Scopus and Web of Science indexed journals. The study revealed that distribution of annual publications has increased with some fluctuation over the reviewed period; Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute was the leading publisher in the field of food supply chain. The first authors from United Kingdom and Italy were the most active principal investigators in conducting scientific research articles in the field of efficiency and sustainability of food supply chain. The findings of this research provide practical significance in clearly pointing to the directions for further study for other scholars to open new research areas, solve existing problems, and create new approaches. This review contributes to academic knowledge, policymaking, and practical implications aimed at building more efficient and sustainable food supply chains worldwide.
Fikire et al. (Thu,) studied this question.