“Circular Economy in the Supply Chain Management of Agricultural Development Projects: Evidence from a Developing Country”

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) is widely recognized as a key enabler of sustainable development goals, yet its adoption within agricultural development projects in developing countries remains limited and fragmented. Agriculture in these contexts faces multifaceted challenges, including climate variability, post-harvest losses, inefficient resource utilization, and weak supply-chain coordination across stages ranging from production to final consumption. Given the critical role of procurement and supply-chain management in optimizing project resources and outcomes, integrating circular economy principles into agricultural project supply chains is both timely and necessary. This study aims to develop a conceptual model integrating circular economy principles with supply-chain management of agricultural development projects, identify the key barriers to circular economy adoption in these supply chains, and analyze the interrelationships among the identified barriers. To achieve these objectives, the research employs a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach, integrating the modified Delphi method, the Best–Worst Method (BWM), and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) combined with MICMAC analysis. The study identifies seven major categories of barriers—organizational, regulatory, technological, economic and financial, consumer and societal, operational and supply-chain, and environmental—comprising a total of fifty barriers. The analysis highlights ten critical barriers, with organizational and regulatory issues emerging as particularly influential. ISM results reveal that poor cold-chain and storage infrastructure is a highly dependent barrier linked to all others, while insufficient environmental laws and regulations act as a key driving barrier shaping the overall system. MICMAC analysis further confirms the complex interdependencies among barriers, emphasizing the need for a systemic rather than fragmented approach to CE implementation. The findings underscore that organizational barriers—such as short-term project based approaches, lack of strategic planning, inadequate awareness, absence of performance measurement systems, and weak management support—pose the most significant obstacles to circular supply-chain transformation. Addressing these foundational issues is essential for enabling sustainable, resilient, and inclusive agricultural development. The study contributes to the literature by providing an integrated analytical framework and empirical insights relevant to policymakers, project managers, and development practitioners in developing-country contexts, while also offering directions for future research.