The land-network problem: Ecosystem carbon balance in planning sustainable agro-food supply chains

Global food demand will double by 2050 and strain agro-food supply chains. The increasing relevance of non-agrarian activities within the food supply chain mandates a systemic perspective for addressing sustainability. We consider the food supply chain as an ecosystem and define more inclusive boundaries. We present a design framework that supports strategic decision-making on agriculture and food distribution issues while addressing climate stability. We describe the methodology used to construct the framework, which entails a multi-disciplinary approach. An original land-network problem merges localized and large-scaled decisions as land-use allocation and location-allocation problems in an agrofood network. A linear programming model optimizes infrastructure, agriculture, and logistics costs and also balances carbon emissions within the agro-food ecosystem. A regional potato supply chain illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed model. Findings show the interdependency between infrastructure, production, distribution, and environmental resources. Results highlight the consequences of unbalanced planning focused solely on cost efficiency. In conclusion we identify enabling conditions, drivers and metrics for the design of cost effective and carbon balanced agro-food ecosystems.