The history

For years, the International Forum on Agri-Food Logistics has been a platform for cooperation between scientists and practitioners, enabling both the presentation of scientific research results and their discussion at regular conferences, as well as sharing experiences. The Forum is also a place for establishing scientific and business contacts.

The International Forum follows the National Conference „AGROLOGISTYKA 2012”, which was held in Poznań, Poland, in 2012. The theme of the Conference was Agri business - The Challenge for Logisticsand it aimed to discuss contemporary trends in the development of supply chains in the food economy, including social responsibility strategies. The Conference was dedicated to the issues of the theory and practice of logistics in the food industry. It was the first conference on this subject in Poland.

Given the fact that modern food chains are global, we decided to organise an Inter national Forum to discuss this issue. So, the 1st edition in 2014 tackled Efficient Lo gistics as a Chance of Efficient Consumer Response in the Agri-Food Sector, where we discussed the trust and traceability as the conditions of sustainable supply chain development.

We held the 2nd Forum under the theme of Logistics Facing Challenges of Food Se curity and Environmental Protection. We discussed the environmental risks, food waste and uncertainties in the turbulent global world as challenges for sustainability in agri-food supply chains (AFSCs).

The theme of the 3rd Forum, which was held in 2019, was Towards the Sustainability of Logistics in the Agri-Food Supply Chains. Some of the main issues that we raised in the forum were possibilities of reduction of CO2 and other harmful substances emissions, traceability, and development of systems and quality standards in AFSCs.

Since 2012, the Forum hosted about 230 guests from almost all continents all over the world, i.e. Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa, who represent the le ading scientific centres of logistics and supply chains, like:

  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD);
  • Cranfield School of Management, UK;
  • International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM-Bari), Italy;
  • Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Spain;
  • Moscow State University of Technology (STANKIN), Moscow, Russia;
  • Faculty of Economics and Business, Department of Research Methodology and Statistics, University of Debrecen, Hungary;
  • IMED Business School, Brazil;
  • Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil; 
  • Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas, Lithuania;
  • Universidad Técnica de Machala, Ecuador;
  • Universidad del Zulia, Venezuela;
  • Uniwersytet Leona Koźmińskiego, Warszawa, Polska.
  • Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Logistics and Warehousing, Poznań, Poland.

From the very beginning, the main idea of the Forum was sustainable development, and as a biennial platform, it gathers numerous experts from across the world around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Therefore , in 2021 we would like to invite you to discuss innovation and technology in this context, but also to continue the chal lenges of uncertainty, especially given the latest COVID-19 pandemic circumstances.

We hope that the IV Forum will contribute not only to more effective implementa tion of the SDGs but also to drawing up proposals for implementing the blueprints of the Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030 under the following umbrellas: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnerships.