Recent Contributions of Agricultural Economics Research in the Field of Sustainable Development

Abstract

Sustainable development is more often considered by media, public opinion, and politicians to be the main goal our society should attempt to pursue in the coming years. To this aim, academic researchers have made sustainability one of the main objects of their studies. This work focuses on environmental sustainability and presents a brief overview of how it is taken into consideration in the agricultural economics field by considering this topic from different perspectives and thus highlighting how this field is gradually broadening its scope to include sustainable development objectives. Our analysis shows that the path towards sustainable development is strongly correlated to the protection of the environment. Therefore, agricultural policies aimed at protecting and preserving the environment, and, more in general, innovation along the agri-food chain, together with consumer attention towards environmental issues, can play an important role in achieving this objective.

Italian millennials' preferences for wine: an exploratory study

“…The wine carbon footprint: nowadays there is a general consensus among most climate scientists that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by human activity are the main drivers of climate change, and agriculture contributes significantly to this. Some studies point out that agriculture, forestry and land use change are responsible for 20-24% of global GHG emissions, with a percentage from 10% to 17% deriving directly from agricultural activity, while an additional 7-14% related to changes in land use (Akaichi et al, 2017;Bertoni et al, 2018). Also, wine production plays a relevant role in the production of these externalities (Bosco et al, 2011;Capitello et al, 2013Capitello et al, , 2016Rugani et al, 2013;Santini et al, 2013).…”

Environmentally sustainable versus aesthetic values motivating millennials’ preferences for wine purchasing: evidence from an experimental analysis in Italy

“…Agriculture activity alone is considered directly responsible of global GHG emissions for a percentage that is estimated from 10 to 12 to 17%; an additional 7-14% is related to changes in land use. The contribution of the agri-food supply chain, including input suppliers for the agricultural sector, agriculture, food industry, logistics activities and transportation of goods, distribution, and waste management, is obviously much higher (Akaichi et al 2016;Bertoni et al 2018;OECD 2016;Smith et al 2014).…”

How does Innovation Contribute to a Sustainable Agri-Food Chain? A European Overview

“…A general perspective of sustainable agri-food chains was brought into discussion by (Barth, et al, 2017), (Mangla, et al, 2018), (Naik and Suresh, 2018), (Bertoni, et al, 2018). More in-depth, researchers analyzed the role of various factors contributing to sustainability in agriculture such as: (Sharpe & Barling, 2019) the role of ethics and responsibility; (Lara, et al, 2019) the role of socialecological innovations and traditional ecological knowledge; (Blanc, et al, 2019) the use of bio-based plastics; (Nastis, et al, 2019) the impact of farmers' behavior towards sustainable practices; (Elisante, et al, 2019) introduced the impact of pollinators for sustainable food security, while (Trivellas, et al, 2020) green logistics management.…”