Sustainable Configuration of the Tunisian Olive Oil Supply Chain Using a Fuzzy TOPSIS-Based Approach

Ahlem Jellali,Wafik Hachicha,Awad M Aljuaid

doi:10.3390/su13020722

Ahlem Jellali, Wafik Hachicha + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020722

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Jan 13, 2021
Citations: 11	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Sfax, Taif University

Abstract

Agricultural production of olive oil is a sector with high significance. The olive sector is a very important sector for several countries in the world, in particular, for Tunisia. In addition, the impacts of olive oil production and extraction on economic, environmental, and social issues are considerable. The main objective of this work is to propose a better configuration of the Tunisian olive oil supply chain (OOSC) from a sustainable development (SD) perspective. The proposed approach consists of applying a fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method as a multi-criteria approach. The proposed approach is applied twice. In the first application, the objective is to compare five possible scenarios for the olive agricultural phase. In the second application, the objective is to compare three possible scenarios for the olive oil transformation phase. The major findings of this research include the following: (1) The best scenario for the agricultural phase is the intensified organic system, which is based on biodynamic olive growing. (2) The best scenario for the transformation phase (oil extraction) is the continuous two-phase extraction system. Consequently, the efficient way for the by-products processing phase is the use of wet pomace for the preparation of biodynamic compost.

Highlights

Thereby, the structure of this article is organized as follows: In Section 1, we presented a literature review related to sustainability of the olive oil supply chain (OOSC); in Section 2, we present the Tunisian OOSC and the theoretical steps of the proposed approach; in Section 3, we present the application of the proposed approach; in Section 4, we present the results analysis; and conclusion and some perspectives are presented in the last section
The proposed approach is based on three input types include the following: (1) six sustainable development (SD) indicators; (2) the different scenarios observed in Tunisian OOSC, i.e., five different scenarios observed for the olive agricultural production phase and three different scenarios observed for the olive oil transformation phase; (3) the evaluations of the different scenarios according to the different indicators using the results of one survey for each phase
The integration of SD principles into the supply chain amounts to voluntary incorporation into the supply chain management of economic, environmental, and social dimensions, reconciling economic profitability with respect to the natural environment and social performance

Summary

Introduction

Despite the economic importance of this food product in several countries and the social impacts caused by the olive oil industry, in particular, the high added value and job creation, this industry causes various economic, environmental, and social impacts, in terms of depletion of resources, air emissions, waste generation, etc. These economic, social, and environmental impacts vary mainly due to the practices and techniques used in olive growing and oil extraction.

Methods

Results

Conclusion