Risk and resilience in agri-food supply chain SMEs in the pandemic era: a cross-country study

ABSTRACT The sustainable and resilient agri-food systems are essential to ensure food security and nutrition for a rapidly growing world population. While the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak has undoubtedly disrupted numerous businesses, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of agri-food supply chains (AFSCs) were seen more vulnerable to disruptions due to their unique operational challenges. This research explores how SMEs of AFSCs across developing and developed contexts were disrupted by COVID-19 inflicted risks and what useful measures were embraced to cultivate supply chain resilience (SCRE). A qualitative research method, with 24 semi-structured interviews including two developing (Pakistan and Tanzania) and a developed (Australia) country, was employed. The cross-country analysis unveils a noticeable difference in risk and SCRE profiles between developing and developed contexts. We devise a systematic account of COVID-19 inflicted risks and related SCRE strategies to survive and thrive amid the current pandemic and similar future crises. Multiple perspectives from different contexts would assist practitioners and policymakers to learn the key lessons, enhancing resilience of agri-food SMEs. This is among the few studies exploring risk and SCRE in SMEs of AFSCs across developing and developed contexts, benchmarking robust strategies applied by some leading firms. Our proposed conceptual framework offers a roadmap to building more resilient agri-food SMEs.