Beyond the Yield: Enhancing Agricultural Sustainability through Operations and Supply Chain Management

Agricultural production systems are at a crossroads. While industrial agriculture has increased global food, feed and fiber supply, it has also led to severe sustainability challenges, including biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, labor exploitation, as well as concerns over animal welfare. The operations and supply chain management (OSCM) domain has the potential to contribute meaningful insights into these issues, yet research in this area remains fragmented. This paper outlines the critical challenges of agricultural production systems and reviews the contributions of OSCM scholarship to sustainable agriculture over the past ten years. While prior research has provided valuable insights, the present study emphasizes the need for OSCM scholarship to engage more deeply with agricultural production systems, addressing efficiency, resilience, power dynamics, and transparency. Furthermore, the need for our domain to contribute to the fundamental challenge of transforming the dominant industrial agricultural systems into an alternative system that minimizes harm to the environment, people, and animals is highlighted. By advancing research in these directions, the OSCM community can play an important role in shaping a more sustainable future for the planet.