Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The food and agricultural sector faces increasing pressure from climate change, resource depletion and environmental damage caused by years of unsustainable practices. New arising concepts in combination with technological advances, in the form of e.g., drones, improved sensors and automation, allow actors to relieve some of these pressures and lead the way towards a more sustainable food system in the future. The adoption of these concepts and technologies, however, is slow, posing new planning and decision problems from a logistics perspective. Finding good solutions to these problems is a complex task, due to the often highly constrained environment and the existing trade-offs between objectives. The focus of my research will be on the development of mathematical optimisation models and algorithms that provide good solutions to these problems under consideration of the different trade-offs and constraints involved. The developed tools will furthermore help to analyse the potential of new concepts and technologies from a sustainability perspective and provide insights into the requirements of alternative food and agricultural logistics. The research program will address four main areas. The first key area relates to agricultural production, where higher levels of precision and automation combined with new concepts, such as precision farming and intercropping, change agricultural planning and in-field logistics. Connecting agricultural production with the end-consumer, the second area investigates alternative ways of organising the chain by studying supply chain configurations for short and local chains. The third area of the research will explore the potential of logistics collaboration between actors in the system in order to increase efficiencies within the chain, improve resource utilisation and share costs at different levels in the system. The last research area introduces the aspect of uncertainty within these planning environments, where uncertainty may occur e.g., with respect to yields, demands and product quality. While contributing to the development of new mathematical problem formulations and tailored solution approaches in the area of Logistics and Operations Research, the program will also provide practical insights into highly relevant planning and decision problems in the agrifood industry. Bridging between disciplines, it aims to expedite sustainable development by identifying important prerequisites and providing the necessary decision-making tools.