A Decentralized Bilevel Interactive Fuzzy Approach for Socially Sustainable Agri-Food Supply Chain Management

Abstract

Agri-food supply chain management (ASCM) involves hierarchical structures in which actors make autonomous decisions and pursue objectives that may conflict with one another, thereby hindering coordination and limiting the understanding of how these decisions affect overall chain performance. This study proposes a decentralized bilevel mixed-integer linear programming model (BLDPP) for ASCM, solved using an interactive fuzzy decision-making approach that integrates membership functions with multi-objective programming. The model was validated through a case study conducted on an agri-food supply chain in Colombia. The results show that the interactive fuzzy approach enabled the development of a planning scheme that achieved a 94% satisfaction level among all decision-makers, demonstrating its effectiveness in harmonizing potentially conflicting interests. Additionally, the resulting planning incorporated up to 99% of the total productive capacity of small producers into the purchasing plan, supporting their inclusion in the chain. These findings indicate that both the proposed management model and its solution approach offer a robust alternative for advancing toward socially sustainable management of agri-food supply chains.