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

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 across the globe, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of agri-food supply chains (AFSC) were deemed more vulnerable due to their unique operational challenges. This research aims to explore how SMEs of AFSCs across three countries were disrupted by COVID-19 inflicted risks and what useful measures were embraced to cultivate effective supply chain resilience. A qualitative research method, with 24 semi-structured interviews from two developing (Pakistan and Tanzania) and a developed (Australia) country, was employed. The cross-country comparative analysis with NVivo 12 software unveils a noticeable difference in risk and supply chain resilience profiles between developing and developed countries. The analysis uncovers a systematic account of COVID-19 inflicted risks and related resilience strategies to survive and thrive amid the current pandemic and similar future crises. Multiple perspectives from different countries would facilitate practitioners and policymakers to learn the key lessons, enhancing SMEs’ resilience in the supply chain. The growth of the agri-food industry would help ensure food security and availability to the rapidly growing population of the world. This is among the few studies exploring risk and resilience 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.