Agri-food systems are central to food security in the Mediterranean and MENA regions, where staple crops such as wheat and barley play a key role in calorie intake, agricultural GDP, and socio-political stability. These systems span the entire supply chain, from seed development and primary production to consumption and end-of-life management. As digital transformation increasingly reshapes agri-food systems, digital technologies offer important opportunities to enhance productivity, resilience, sustainability, and rural development. However, effective digital adoption depends not only on technological infrastructure and access, but also on the knowledge, learning skills, and organisational readiness of agri-food stakeholders. Knowledge maturity is positioned as a strategic lens for assessing existing capabilities, identifying critical knowledge gaps, and guiding continuous improvement across agri-food supply chains. By linking digital transformation with knowledge maturity, this study contributes to knowledge management research by showing how capability-oriented assessment can support more effective, inclusive, and sustainable digital integration in agri-food systems.

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