Identifying causal factors for food loss in India's international supply chain of dry leguminous vegetables: a DEMATEL approach

In recent years, food losses have sought the immense attention of researcher(s) and policymaker(s). The paper adds a new perspective on identifying the causes of food loss in the international food supply chain by leveraging the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach to classify the variables leading to the causes and effects of food losses in India's dry leguminous vegetable imports. Dry leguminous vegetables (pulses), critical to assessing global food losses as per the FAO Food Loss Index, seek wider attention to reducing losses. The paper narrates the causal factors and associated effects while exploring suggestions that can be implemented to reduce food losses. The paper's findings reveal the unavailability of infrastructure as the most influential cause, setting the stage for subsequent similar research on reducing losses with a new dimension of measuring them concerning the international food supply chain.