Multi-objective scenario optimization of the food supply chain – Slovenian case study

Abstract

This paper presents the use of a process system approach to optimize the food supply chain considering three aspects of sustainability. The main objective is to highlight the opportunities to increase the share of food produced at national level, taking into account the environmental impact and economic efficiency within the framework of the Green Deal requirements established by the European Commission. A mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model was developed that allocates the available land among different crops, calculates the mass of crops and the number of animals, and considers three groups of indicators: (a) total profit, (b) environmental indicators such as greenhouse gas emissions, and c) social criteria such as self-sufficiency ratio. Multi-objective optimization leads to a trade-off solution in which self-sufficiency increases by 45 percentage points compared to the current situation, while agricultural emissions decrease by 20% and the economic performance of the food supply chain improves significantly.