Advanced Agricultural Economy: Challenges and Opportunities

Dear Colleagues,

In recent decades, the bioeconomy is becoming an important component of the economic matrix in many countries and has supported the development of local economies and contributed to poverty alleviation. The different sectors of the bioeconomy, specially the agricultural systems, have been considered among the most promising mean to contribute to achieving the targets set by the United Nations’s Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Agriculture has an important role producing biomass to supply the bioeconomy. Biofuels used in transport, for example, are already utilized in many countries and have contributed to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and mitigate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, as highlighted by the United Nation Environment Program (UNEP), the dependence on biomass to produce bioenergy “can contribute to deforestation, degradation of soil quality and reduction of the biodiversity” and create food insecurity. These figures reveal that agricultural systems will face relevant challenges imposed by the dramatic increase predicted for human population in the next decades and the pressures on sustainability dimensions. These challenges demand new approaches to structure, organize and manage agricultural systems. These environmental, economic and social issues must be addressed. More specifically, as argued by the European Commission, “without the ability to deliver a stable and rewarding income, agriculture would not be able to supply its essential products and services for society”. This way, it is relevant to do academic research and to develop and to improve methodological approaches with analytical frameworks, criteria and indicators to evaluate the economic impacts, trade-offs and feasibility of sustainable agricultural production systems to support national, regional and local public policies formulation and private decision making to build, operate and manage sustainable agricultural systems.

Key topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to:

• National and local public policies and financial incentives to support and encourage sustainable agricultural production and consumption;
• The economic, social and environmental impacts of sustainable agricultural production and consumption on local economies;
• Monetary and fiscal evaluation of tangible and intangible agricultural ecosystems (products and services);
• The economics of dematerialization, decarbonisation and adaptation to climate changes of agricultural supply chains;
• The economics of the biotechnological intensification of agricultural systems;
• Projects and experiences of agricultural technology transfer/cooperation among developed countries (DC) and less develop countries (LDC) (for example, indicators of effectiveness);
• The role and impact of bioenergy on the bioeconomy of feedstock production (agricultural food crops, agricultural non-food crops, agricultural starch, bioresidues from agroindustries, organic waste, forestry, algae, etc.)
• The economics of innovations for alternative feedstocks and new generations of bioenergy (first (crops and animal fat), second (lignocellulose), third (algae), fourth (genomically prepared microorganisms and genetically engineered feedstock);
• The role and effects of biological sources (feedstock), land locations (geographical region and biome) and management practices (farm and agroindustry) on bioenergy production and sustainability;
• Methodological and analytical frameworks, criteria and indicators to assess the environmental, economic and social impacts and trade-offs of the sustainability of agricultural production systems (trade-offs within the economic, environmental and social dimensions);
• Methodological and analytical frameworks, criteria and indicators for the risk assessment of bioenergy production systems (land use competition, deforestation, degradation of soil and water sources, the quality and reduction of biodiversity);
• Methodological and analytical scenarios for market evaluation of sustainable agricultural products (assessment of the supply and demand sides and sustainability constraints/trade-offs);
• Methodological and analytical frameworks to assess the feasibility (technical reliability and economic viability) of sustainable agricultural supply chains.

Dr. Edson Talamini
Prof. Dr. Antonio Domingos Padula
Guest Editors

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• agricultural systems
• biodiversity
• bioenergy
• sustainable agriculture
• dematerialization
• bioeconomy
• ecological economics
• agricultural economics
• economic indicators
• economic impact
• poverty alleviation