Agricultural Economics and Consumer Behaviour for Sustainable Food Systems
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Food".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 June 2026 | Viewed by 1073
Special Issue Editors
Interests: sustainable development; sustainable entrepreneurship; rural development; ecosystem services; circular economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: responsible consumption; ethical consumption; sustainable entrepreneurship
Interests: agricultural economics; rural development; agro-environmental economics; farm management; productivity and efficiency estimation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The unprecedented effects of the global climate crisis are increasing our awareness of the inefficiencies and unsustainability of current food systems. As outlined in the 2023 SDG Progress Report, food production and consumption practices result in adverse environmental and social impacts. Additionally, as the global population grows and demographic changes occur, sustainability issues related to food systems may become even more severe.
Based on such evidence, urgent calls for coordinated theoretical and practical contributions are spreading to address issues related to the transition towards a more sustainable agri-food system. To the extent that agri-food systems are complex entities affected by human behavior, attitudes, and decisions, this transition requires the optimization of several interrelated economic, environmental, and social scopes. This process encompasses multiple key actors at both demand and supply levels and their interconnected value-adding activities.
This Special Issue aims to contribute to the current debate on sustainable agri-food systems, with specific interest in agricultural production and consumer behavior.
A list of possible topics includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Consumers’ responsible values and habits;
- Consumer attitudes and preferences towards sustainable foods;
- Consumer attitudes and preferences towards novel/alternative foods (i.e., cultivated meat, insect feed and food, plant-based alternatives);
- Drivers and barriers towards self-production of fruits and vegetables;
- Role of information sources on sustainable food choices;
- Consumer preferences toward economic, environmental, or social aspects of sustainability;
- Role of consumer behavior and decision-making in the transition toward linear to circular economy in agri-food systems;
- Consumer awareness and sustainability-focused value orientation as motivating factors of responsible behavior;
- Relevant case studies eliciting the effect of sustainable business practices on consumer preferences;
- Best practices in agriculture to address new trends in sustainable consumption.
- Best practices in agri-food systems to reduce and mitigate the impact of global nutrition and foster food security.
- Agri-food business actions to influence consumer choice toward sustainable purchasing choices
- Effects of overconsumption on agri-food systems;
- Role of sustainable non-financial disclosure in driving consumers’ preferences;
- Effects of blockchain technology on consumer perception of the value of agri-food products and behavior.
Dr. Brunella Arru
Dr. Mariella Pinna
Dr. Fabio A. Madau
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- sustainable food behavior
- responsible consumption
- sustainable agri-business
- agri-food systems
- food choice motivations
- sustainable production
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