Special Issue "Sustainable Agricultural Development Economics and Policy"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Aaron K. Hoshide
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Economics, The University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
Interests: sustainable agriculture; economics; IFSM; agricultural budgeting and risk; integrated systems; cattle; crops; local agricultural systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agriculture, in developing and developed nations, faces huge challenges over the next century in meeting human food needs and shifting preferences. Agricultural economic development, from the personal and local level to the global and industrial level, needs to be balanced with community needs (e.g. food sovereignty, self-sufficiency, etc.) and adaptable with the amplifying environmental challenges (e.g., climate change, ecosystem degradation, etc.). Local, national, and global policies need to support sustainable agricultural economic development, while also addressing future environmental and community impacts on agriculture.

Manuscripts submitted for this Special Issue can focus on any agricultural system in developing or developed nations. Submissions can analyze agricultural food systems from the personal and local level, all the way up to global commodities. Analysis can focus on economics (e.g., statistical models, non-parametric analyses, farm budgets and models, financial statements, etc.), however, the mathematics should be presented in such a way for a multi-disciplinary audience, and part of the discussion section needs to be devoted to policy recommendations. Alternatively, writing can be heavily focused on policy proposals, but economic data needs to be presented (e.g., summary statistical data from prior literature in the introduction).

This Special Issue seeks manuscripts addressing the myriad of sustainable future pathways for agricultural economic development across the world from both an economic and a policy perspective. This can involve agricultural producers, the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as national governments. Past successful strategies can be applied to new locations, current applied research showcased, and future proposals highlighted. Analyses should address some combination of economics and policy which can be integrated with other academic focuses (e.g., bio-physical modeling, rural sociology, agronomy, etc.).

Sustainable agricultural development can be economically viable while reducing the environmental impact of agricultural activities, and improving local communities. From an economic perspective, sustainability can be achieved through “economies of scale”, by increasing economic efficiency and agricultural productivity, and this can spare land, in the short run reducing the need to convert natural habitats into areas for agriculture. While export commodity agriculture can employ local workers, the diversified food needs of local communities may not be addressed. Agricultural development of both intensive and extensive systems may be more challenging in the future given changes in climate, agro-ecosystem degradation, and diminishing resource availability. Articles published in this Special Issue could address how agricultural systems involving commodities may be less sustainable in the future, how these systems can be designed to be more durable to future shocks, and how sustainability shortcomings of the “economies of scale” approach can be addressed.

Alternatively, sustainable agricultural development can use “economies of scope” where agricultural producers diversify production and input use, using systems-based approaches. While such diversification can be profitable, minimizes environmental impacts, and meets local community food needs, these systems may be challenging, due to the complexity of managing the farmscape like an ecosystem adjusted to reduce input use, selling more directly to consumers, or the lack of available capital. Articles accepted to this Special Issue could address how government policies can be re-structured to support more diversified agriculture, how to improve stability of community supported agriculture (CSAs), or how micro-finance can be used to encourage greater “economies of scope.”

Dr. Aaron K. Hoshide
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

  • sustainability
  • agriculture
  • development
  • economics
  • policy
  • environment
  • community

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Article
Agricultural Support Policies and China’s Cyclical Evolutionary Path of Agricultural Economic Growth
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6134; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116134 - 29 May 2021
Viewed by 793
Abstract
Due to the weak nature of agricultural production, governments usually adopt supportive policies to protect food security. To discern the growth of agriculture from 2001 to 2018 under China’s agricultural support policies, we use the nonlinear MS(M)-AR(p) model to distinguish China’s agricultural economic [...] Read more.
Due to the weak nature of agricultural production, governments usually adopt supportive policies to protect food security. To discern the growth of agriculture from 2001 to 2018 under China’s agricultural support policies, we use the nonlinear MS(M)-AR(p) model to distinguish China’s agricultural economic cycle into three growth regimes—rapid, medium, and low—and analyze the probability of shifts and maintenance among the different regimes. We further calculated the average duration of each regime. Moreover, we calculated the growth regime transfers for specific times. In this study, we find that China’s agricultural economy has maintained a relatively consistent growth trend with the support of China’s proactive agricultural policies. However, China’s agricultural economy tends to maintain a low-growth status in the long-term. Finally, we make policy recommendations for agricultural development based on our findings that continue existing agricultural policies and strengthen support for agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Agricultural Development Economics and Policy)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Article
Determinants of Household Income and Willingness to Pay for Indigenous Plants in North West Province, South Africa: A Two-Stage Heckman Approach
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5458; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105458 - 13 May 2021
Viewed by 510
Abstract
Using a cross-sectional dataset, this study examines the factors influencing the income and willingness to pay for indigenous plants by rural households in the North West Province of South Africa. The method of data analysis was based on a two-stage Heckman model. Based [...] Read more.
Using a cross-sectional dataset, this study examines the factors influencing the income and willingness to pay for indigenous plants by rural households in the North West Province of South Africa. The method of data analysis was based on a two-stage Heckman model. Based on empirical data, the majority (93%) of the households are willing to pay for the indigenous plants. Furthermore, factors such as the age of the household’s head, marital status, size of households, financial returns and economic benefit of indigenous plants significantly influenced income and willingness to pay for indigenous plants by the households. Thus, indigenous plants have the potential to penetrate local and international markets and can be used to improve the economies, livelihood, and food security status of rural households in South Africa. Indigenous plant cultivation can increase agro-food system species diversity while conserving plant species indigenous to this area of South Africa. Encouraging both consumption and production of indigenous plants can also help diversify local economies and communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Agricultural Development Economics and Policy)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop