Special Issue "Sustainable Agri-Food Networks"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Markus Keck
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Human Geography, Georg-August-University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
Interests: agri-food networks; economic geography; development studies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Our current agri-food networks cause severe environmental, socioeconomic, and health-related problems. The ways we produce, market, and consume food are leading causes of severe environmental degradation and climate change. At the same time, large-scale profit-oriented food industries help in intensifying socioeconomic divides and deprivation in our societies, accompanied by increasing rates of malnutrition and ill health through unbalanced diets. Against this background, business as usual is no longer an option. Change is needed, and this change must necessarily be based on economic transformation. This Special Issue has been established to collect meaningful contributions in finding solutions for overcoming the key barriers of the much-needed transformation of agri-food networks—be they rooted in consumption routines, underdeveloped technologies, institutional inertia, or political ignorance.

We read the term “sustainable” as covering all those measures that are “life-supporting” in the broadest possible sense. We welcome papers on how to unfold opportunities for creating agri-food networks which foster biodiversity in such ecosystems as fields, forests, waterbodies, and soils; which provide employees and the numerous self-employed in small-scale businesses with decent income and foster the social prestige of jobs in the agri-food sector; and which enable consumers to access balanced diets at reasonable prices while hindering allergies and the spread of pandemic viruses. We welcome theoretically informed and empirically grounded papers from all relevant disciplinary backgrounds that deal with innovative approaches and develop new insights, especially in the fields of circular agri-food systems, agroecology, packaging and food waste, solidary food networks, and the transformation of consumption practices with regional foci in the global North and South.

Dr. Markus Keck
Guest Editor

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 papers will be 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 1900 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

  • circular agri-food systems
  • agroecology
  • packaging and food waste
  • solidary food networks
  • transformation of consumption practices

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Constraints to Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum) Production and Farmers’ Approaches to Striga hermonthica Management in Burkina Faso
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8460; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158460 - 29 Jul 2021
Viewed by 427
Abstract
Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is a staple food crop in Burkina Faso that is widely grown in the Sahelian and Sudano-Sahelian zones, characterised by poor soil conditions and erratic rainfall, and high temperatures. The objective of this study was to document [...] Read more.
Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is a staple food crop in Burkina Faso that is widely grown in the Sahelian and Sudano-Sahelian zones, characterised by poor soil conditions and erratic rainfall, and high temperatures. The objective of this study was to document farmers’ perceptions of the prevailing constraints affecting pearl millet production and related approaches to manage the parasitic weeds S. hermonthica. The study was conducted in the Sahel, Sudano-Sahelian zones in the North, North Central, West Central, Central Plateau, and South Central of Burkina Faso. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and focus group discussions involving 492 participant farmers. Recurrent drought, S. hermonthica infestation, shortage of labour, lack of fertilisers, lack of cash, and the use of low-yielding varieties were the main challenges hindering pearl millet production in the study areas. The majority of the respondents (40%) ranked S. hermonthica infestation as the primary constraint affecting pearl millet production. Respondent farmers reported yield losses of up to 80% due to S. hermonthica infestation. 61.4% of the respondents in the study areas had achieved a mean pearl millet yields of <1 t/ha. Poor access and the high cost of introduced seed, and a lack of farmers preferred traits in the existing introduced pearl millet varieties were the main reasons for their low adoption, as reported by 32% of respondents. S. hermonthica management options in pearl millet production fields included moisture conservation using terraces, manual hoeing, hand weeding, use of microplots locally referred to as ‘zaï’, crop rotation and mulching. These management techniques were ineffective because they do not suppress the below ground S. hermonthica seed, and they are difficult to implement. Integrated management practices employing breeding for S. hermonthica resistant varieties with the aforementioned control measures could offer a sustainable solution for S. hermonthica management and improved pearl millet productivity in Burkina Faso. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Agri-Food Networks)
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Article
Agri-Food Markets towards Agroecology: Tensions and Compromises Faced by Small-Scale Farmers in Brazil and Chile
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3096; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063096 - 11 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 563
Abstract
One of the main dilemmas faced by small-scale farmers’ movements advocating for agroecology in Latin America lies in the trade-offs between the economic opportunities arising from the organic food market expansion, and the political principles at the core of their action. To provide [...] Read more.
One of the main dilemmas faced by small-scale farmers’ movements advocating for agroecology in Latin America lies in the trade-offs between the economic opportunities arising from the organic food market expansion, and the political principles at the core of their action. To provide insights on this issue, a survey was performed in Brazil and Chile. Between March 2016 and December 2018, data were collected through direct and participant observation, documentary analysis, and interviews conducted to peasant organizations’ leaders, technicians and policymakers. In Brazil, the research focused on the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (The Landless Movement); while in Chile, due to the absence of such a national social movement, it considered a wider set of actors, including the Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo Agropecuario (National Institute for Agricultural Development). The results show how social movements are navigating between the mainstreaming pressures of the conventional markets, dominated by the leading agri-food corporations, and the political efforts they have been doing to build civic food markets as alternatives to conventionalization patterns. Finally, we argue that social scientists should better explain the tensions and compromises the social movements go through in order to coordinate different and complementary marketing strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Agri-Food Networks)
Article
Adopting Environmentally Friendly Farming Practices and the Role of Quality Labels and Producer Organisations: A Qualitative Analysis Based on Two European Case Studies
Sustainability 2020, 12(24), 10457; https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410457 - 14 Dec 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1242
Abstract
Various drivers behind the adoption of environmentally friendly practices have been investigated at the farm level in the literature, e.g., farmers’ motivations and attitudes, farms’ structure, and management or policies. Yet, the way in which quality labels and producer organisations influence the adoption [...] Read more.
Various drivers behind the adoption of environmentally friendly practices have been investigated at the farm level in the literature, e.g., farmers’ motivations and attitudes, farms’ structure, and management or policies. Yet, the way in which quality labels and producer organisations influence the adoption of environmentally friendly practices by farmers is still under-researched. We contribute to this topic and present the results of qualitative interviews with producer organisations, conducted in 2019 in two contrasting case studies: the pig sector in Brittany (western France), and the olive oil sector in Crete (Greece). Our study shows that economic actors of food supply chains in these two case studies use European quality labels, a couple of national schemes, and a proliferation of private quality labels (in Brittany’s pig sector). Our interviews reveal that many quality labels, for which agricultural farming systems must comply with a set of rules, are not specifically aimed at improving environmental impacts. In the Cretan olive oil sector, we observe several European public labels. In the French pig sector, many quality labels do not include requirements for practices aiming at improving the environment, but instead focus on other practices that matter for society, namely improving animal welfare. However, advisory services provided by the producer organisations can play a key role in the adoption of environmentally friendly practices. They include research programmes and agronomic events. In Crete, producer organisations are able to offer technical assistance thanks to European support programmes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Agri-Food Networks)
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