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Sustainable agriculture implies the ability of agro‐ecosystems to remain productive in the long‐term. It is not easy to point out unambiguously whether or not current production systems meet this sustainability demand. A priori thinking would suggest that organic crops are environmentally favourable, but may ignore the effect of reduced productivity, which shifts the potential impact to other parts of the food provision system. The purpose of this paper is to assess the ecological sustainability of conventional and organic leek production by means of life cycle assessment (LCA).

A cradle‐to‐farm gate LCA is applied, based on real farm data from two research centres. For a consistent comparison, two functional units (FU) were defined: 1ha and 1 kg of leek production.

Assessed on an area basis, organic farming shows a more favourable environmental profile. These overall benefits are strongly reduced when the lower yields are taken into account. Related to organic farming it is therefore important that solutions are found to substantially increase the yields without increasing the environmental burden. Related to conventional farming, important potential for environmental improvements are in optimising the farm nutrient flows, reducing pesticide use and increasing its self‐supporting capacity.

The research is a cradle‐to‐farm gate LCA, future research can be expanded to comprise all phases from cradle‐to‐grave to get an idea of the total sustainability of our present food consumption patterns. The research is also limited to the case of leek production. Future research can apply the methodology to other crops.

To date, there is still lack of clear evidence of the added value of organic farming compared to conventional farming on environmental basis. Few studies have compared organic and conventional food production by means of LCA. This paper addresses these issues.

Taking Huangshan City as an example, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between gross products of agriculture (GPA), its main composition as well as their influential intermediate inputs, followed by some suggestion, in order to optimize agricultural industrial structure and distribute the ratio of various inputs in agriculture, farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, so as to improve GPA of Huangshan City.

This paper is characterized by an exploratory research by using the grey incidence analysis based on the grey systems theory initiated by Chinese professor Julong Deng. The original data processed in the model are quoted from the Statistical Yearbook of Huangshan City.

This paper draws some important conclusions. First, in terms of large, intermediate inputs in animal husbandry production and fishery production are two important aspects which affect the growth potentiality of agricultural gross products in Huangshan City. This also reflects that the development potentialities of fishery and animal husbandry are larger. Second, the level of agricultural modernization is relatively low in Huangshan City, the growth of agricultural output relies on a large number of inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, but it also reflects the agriculture production system has huge potentiality to increase in Huangshan City from the side. Third, agriculture producer services as a whole is still relatively weak in Huangshan City. It is difficult to adapt to the development of modern agriculture and agricultural modernization. Finally, the results show that intermediate inputs have different influence on farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery.

Suggestion are also proposed to the related policy makers as follows: to vigorously develop animal husbandry and fishery in order to optimize agricultural industrial structure of Huangshan City, to improve agricultural modernization level, to speed up the service support system construction of agriculture production, to optimize the allocation of inputs in farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery reasonably.

This paper aims to evaluate the responses taken during the pandemic of COVID-19 in sustaining agricultural activities and safeguarding local food supply via digital platforms by applying the case study method.

This paper uses a case study approach due to its systematic way of collecting data, analysing information and reporting results to understand the particular problem. For this study, secondary data consisting of government reports and documents are used to give a broader understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on the local food system and digital platform for agricultural produce.

The impact of COVID-19 on the agri-food sector is the move towards a more resilient and sustainable local food system, whereby nations emphasise food security by encouraging local food production. This is done by boosting micro, small and medium enterprises’ (MSME) output, “supporting local” initiatives and leveraging digital platforms and FinTech in business transactions.

This study highlights that MSMEs’ adoption of digital platforms, particularly in the agri-food sector, demonstrates their willingness to embrace new business models that leverage technological advancements while maintaining the personal touch that attracts customers.

This study implies that although the pandemic outbreak created prolonged uncertainties with an immediate impact on the economy and ways of doing business transactions, digital platforms and FinTech ensured continuous food supply during the period.

This paper provides initial valuable insight to academics, practitioners and policymakers in agriculture and innovation management. It can be observed that digital platform and FinTech plays an essential role in ensuring safety and undisrupted food supply, especially in the case of fresh produce grown by local small-scale farmers and MSMEs. This creates a more resilient agri-food system and reduces the pressure from the conventional model of food purchase and social distancing requirements.

The implementation of circular economy strategies is one of the central objectives of several governments seeking a transition toward a sustainable development. Circular economy in agriculture deals with the production of agricultural commodities making an efficient use of resources and avoiding unnecessary waste and carbon emission generation. Disruptions in the production and supply of critical agricultural products can have serious negative repercussions for firms and consumers of the food supply chain. In recent decades, disruptions generated by natural disasters such as hurricanes, thunderstorms and floods have greatly impacted social communities and industrial sectors. Supply chain risks approaches are seen to contribute key elements to address the impacts of natural disaster toward the implementation of circular economy in agriculture, helping to prevent collapses in the production and supply of food. The purpose of this paper is to study and identify flood risk drivers and their effects on the sustainability of an agriculture supply chain in connection with a circular economy strategy. By using an extended Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis method combined with a multi-criteria decision analysis, the most essential flood drivers with a degree of importance are reported here. Then, the authors propose an Evaluation of Data based on average ASsessment method, to rank different agricultural projects that pretend to mitigate the flood risks and its impacts on crop areas. The application of this research lies within the framework of a real agricultural project founded by the European Commission Scientific Section, called RUC-APS.

The authors use management science-based tools to address circular economy in agriculture. The authors propose a multi-criteria-based methodology to assess the risks of flooding in crops areas. To validate the proposed methodology, a case example from Spain is discussed to rank different agricultural projects that pretend to mitigate the flood risks and its impacts on crop areas.

The proposed multi-criteria methodology confirmed a successful application to rank different agricultural projects that pretend to mitigate the flood risks and its impacts on crop areas. Organizations and firms in the agricultural business can use the methodology to identify risks drivers and to detect the best projects to mitigate the highest impacts of flooding risks in crops areas.

The authors use supply chain risks approaches to address the impacts of natural disaster on the implementation of circular economy in agriculture. The authors propose a robust multi-criteria-based methodology to assess the risks of flooding in crops areas and we used to determine the best mitigating projects to face flooding risks on crop areas.

The chapter identifies key components of the new patterns of farming and rural livelihoods emerging in Latin America in the twenty-first century. By the beginning of the millennium, most rural areas of Latin America had become integrated into global agricultural commodity networks that curtail the opportunities for small-scale, family-based farming and result in two predominant types of production, the corporate large-scale enterprise suited to oils seeds and their derivatives, cattle or vegetables for processing and the smaller commercially oriented farm producing market garden products, fruits and wine. Both types of farms often form part of commodity networks organized by domestic intermediaries, large-scale supermarket chains, such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour, and foreign food marketers. In addition to the multiplication of external commercial linkages, high levels of urbanization have increasingly blurred the distinction between the rural and the urban. Off-farm work, including international labor migration, is now an important source of rural livelihoods. This context means that research needs to address the multiple interfaces that now connect the different types of rural inhabitants with a wide range of external actors.

The improvement of the agri-food supply chain sustainability plays pivotal role in the planet’s survival and in overcoming of climate disasters. Digital technologies that support the collection of Big Data produced along the agri-food supply chain (SC) emerge as powerful tools to accelerate the ecological transition of the sector. Digital technologies can support the implementation of circular business models by sharing data across the SC, monitoring in real time the materials flow, automatizing some agricultural practices and improving the decision-making through the development of decision support systems. Despite the relevance of these arguments, there is a lack of shared frameworks and guidelines for the effective development of a “data-driven circular economy” in the agri-food SC. In this scenario, this chapter examines how scholars investigate data-oriented strategies to accelerate the ecological transition and the adoption of circular economy (CE) models in the agri-food sector (AFS). To this end, a systematic literature review (SLR) was performed. Twenty-nine papers were selected following a rigorous sampling process. Both bibliometric and descriptive results are provided in the first part of this chapter. According to the analytical framework developed, the selected papers were examined in light of the “reduce, reuse and recycle” (3R) paradigm. Moreover, an additional R was retrieved from the systematic review (i.e., redesign), broadening the analytical perspective. The results indicate that scholars have predominantly provided theoretical contributions concerning the role of digital technologies and big data for the agri-food circular transition from a macro-perspective. The findings are useful for policy-makers and managers, who can promote and implement the big data-oriented approach to facilitate the circular transition. Limitations and future research directions are also provided.

This paper aims to examine the contribution of forests resource systems to the different aspects of community well-being, the implications of climate variability on the different sources of well-being and further identifies direct and indirect social and policy opportunities relevant for communities to enhance their capabilities in the face of climate variability and change in the Tri-National de la Sangha landscape of Cameroon.

It illustrates on data collected from focus group discussions and from 151 households randomly selected in three villages to operationalize the conceptual links between community well-being and vulnerability.

The study shows that vulnerability to climate change interferes with community strategies to achieve well-being, in addition to non-climatic processes which are both internal and external to communities. The study further indicates that healthy forest ecosystems provide opportunities for the local folks to build assets, improve food security, improve health and reduce risks. However, this requires capacity building and the channeling of resources to the local level, in addition to win–win sectoral policy amendments.

Biophysical methods required to complement community perceptions on the suitability of forest resource systems to climate variability.

This paper argues that appropriate strategies which aim at improving well-being needs to capture the role of forest ecosystems, climate change risks and uncertainty and macroeconomic and social processes.

This study contributes to the literature on the relationship between climate risk and the well-being of forest communities. This is relevant for practitioners and policy makers to reflect on the risk of climate change and the rationale for conserving forest resources for community well-being in the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals conclusions.

In a context where the process of creation of technology and innovation for agriculture is being disrupted at a fast pace, the authors proposed to study one of the most prominent agtech innovation ecosystems. Therefore, this paper aims to identify key characteristics that make California’s agtech innovation ecosystem remarkable.

The paper is an exploratory and descriptive research carried out in a twofold. First, data were collected through documental research focusing on actors such as universities, R&D centers and programs, business accelerators and venture capital platforms, agtechs, as well as multinational companies. Second, structured interviews were carried out to complement the secondary data collected and to obtain experts’ perception on the relationships between actors of the ecosystem and on the characteristics that make this ecosystem remarkable.

The paper provides empirical insights about the relevance of California's agtech innovation ecosystem to creation of radical innovations in agriculture. It has a differentiated environment, where educational and research institutions play a key role in developing new knowledge. It also shows how important funding is to allow new business to succeed. Additionally, it shows that actors interact in a complex network, with multiple roles. All these key characteristics allow this agtech innovation ecosystem to be so remarkable.

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to survey a larger number of actors of this and other agtech innovation ecosystems to test the identified key characteristics further.

The paper includes indication of characteristics necessary to develop a prominent agtech innovation ecosystem, which may contribute to decision makers to develop policies aiming to promote this type of ecosystem.

This paper fulfils an identified need to open the “black-box” of agtech innovation ecosystems, which may then allow radical innovations within the sector to be developed and taken to the market.

Pakistan has long been regarded as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations promotes conservational agricultural practices (CAP); however, they received little attention. Therefore, this study aims to explore the antecedents of farmers’ intention to adopt CAP with empirical evidence to enhance CAP in developing countries.

Using a random sampling strategy, the data has been gathered from 483 Pakistani’s farmers of the most agriculture-producing province, Punjab and Sindh via a questionnaire survey. Regression-analysis (Haye’s process approach) is implied for testing the hypothesis.

The findings indicated that a farmer’s environmental orientation positively affects the farmer’s intention to adopt CAP. Furthermore, the farmer’s attitude towards agricultural production and the farmer’s belief in climate change also positively moderate the relationship.

Based on findings, this research suggests a need for efforts by the government to encourage farmers to engage themselves in technical support for the adoption of CAP. The educational campaigns and training sessions need to be arranged by the government for this purpose. This may help the farmers to adopt strategies relating to climate change concerning their education, credit access and extension services.

This paper explores the antecedents of farmers' intention for CAP in Pakistan. The empirical evidence previously missing in the body of knowledge will support the governments, researchers and FAO to establish a mechanism for enhancing CAP in developing countries like Pakistan. Further research is recommended to explore the outcomes of farmers' intentions to adopt more CAP to gauge the effectiveness of adaptation strategies

The consequences of extreme climatic events that threaten food security have created the urgent need to properly adopt climate-smart adaptation techniques to improve productivity. The study examined the sustainability responses to climate-smart adaptation and the implication it has for explaining the food security situations among farm households in the Central Region of Ghana.

We estimated Heckit treatment effect model to analyse cross-sectional data collected from randomly selected farmers in the Central Region.

Analysis of farm sustainability index suggests that farmers' agricultural practices in response to climate change are lowly or moderately sustainable. We further found that while majority of the farm households are severely food insecure or food insecure with hunger, only about one-third are food insecure without hunger and the remaining few being food secure. The sustainability of farm practices is being impacted by the farmers’ choice of climate smart adaptation measures at the farm level. Consequently, the farm households' food security situation is found to be improved when sustainable farming practices are employed in the face of managing climate change effects.

Conclusions drawn from the study findings give rooms for policy implications that suggest responsibilities for policymakers, farmers and other stakeholders to promote CSA practices in food crop production in Ghana. These policy implications will contribute to improve crop productivity, increase incomes and thus enhance food security among farm families. Awareness campaign about benefits of CSA practices and technologies need to be strengthened among farmers in Ghana by government and NGOs that matter in promoting farm resilience to climate change. Given the important impacts of sustainable farm practices on household food security situation, policies that seek to build the adaptive capacity of farmers to climate vulnerability impacts should take into consideration the sustainability dimensions of the adaptation and mitigation measures to be advocated for use at farm levels.

Our paper contributes to literature knowledge on climate-smart adaptation practices effect on food security as evidenced in some recent literature. The paper makes a unique contribution by highlighting the food security implication of the sustainability impact of CSA practices, thereby exploring sustainability as an impact pathway between climate smart adaptations practices and food security in a developing country like Ghana. We approached our study aiming at making new contribution by introducing in the study implementation a quasi-experimental research design which future studies on impacts of climate smart adaptation practices can replicate.