| dc.description.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. | en_US |
