Carbon sequestration in agricultural soils is essential for sustainable agriculture, contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and combating climate change. The Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), designed to encourage farmers to implement sequestration practices, is a recent innovation in Europe, in contrast to the well-established American system. Consequently, there is limited understanding of farmers' intentions to participate. The study analyzes farmers' willingness to participate in VCM and the influencing factors through the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior (ETPB). For this purpose, data were collected from 241 Italian farmers located in the Sicily region and the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was applied. The results show that Attitude, Perceived Behavioral Control and Knowledge of VCM have a statistically significant influence on farmers' intention to participate in VCM. In contrast, Subjective Norms and Perceived Environmental Risk do not have a statistically significant influence. Our findings suggest that farmers' intention is strongly influenced by confidence in their capabilities and knowledge of the topic. This should guide policymakers and practitioners to offer extension services and technical assistance, helping farmers understand the potential of the VCM. Indeed, limited knowledge is a major barrier to participation in this initiative.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and pollutants, soil erosion and groundwater pollution are some of the negative aspects blamed on livestock farming, so their level of sustainability needs to be assessed, taking into account the territory in which they operate. The research focuses on the assessment of sustainability performance in the four dimensions of good governance: environmental integrity, economic resilience and social well-being, considered by the ‘‘Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems’’ (SAFA) tool developed by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The objective of applying this methodology is to highlight the sustainability dimensions in which the ten analyzed farms are weakest and the ones in which they show the most strength, in order to provide farmers a tool to understand the criticalities on which to intervene. The farms considered follow the principles of agroecology and organic farming, which are decisive in the pursuit of sustainable development. The overall results show a satisfactory level of sustainability with high prospects for improvement, in line with the EU commitments undertaken in the Green Deal and the Millennium Development Goals. Livestock farms must, therefore, be encouraged and accompanied with targeted technical assistance strategies and appropriate agroecological protocols.

Climate change, food security, and the protection of the planet’s resources require the adoption of sustainable production models. Achieving sustainable development in the agri-food sector enables the creation of new opportunities for operators, guiding farmers towards more environmentally friendly practices and offering cost-effective results. Organic farming paradigms are promoted by the transformation of some harmful practices of conventional agriculture, such as the wide use of chemical products of synthesis, the deep workings that favor the erosive processes, the excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizers. There are still gaps in the knowledge of the real performance of some products that strongly support the local economic system of Sicily (Italy). The research aims to highlight the differences in environmental impact caused by the cultivation of organic early potatoes compared to the conventional regime and the same per kg of product obtained. To this end, the widely used methodology for comparing the environmental impacts of agricultural production systems is the Life Cycle Assessment, which allows us to highlight the phases in which environmental criticalities are most concentrated. An interesting agroecological picture of knowledge emerges, since organic farming is by definition an ecological model that supports the principles of the Green Deal, it often requires interventions to improve the yields obtained in order to achieve a positive result both in terms of cultivated surface and kg of product obtained.

The growing need for mitigation of GHG emissions generated by the agri-food sector and the production of sufficient, quality food for the growing population, play a prominent role in the planning of global policies and economies. The determination of damaging practices to be reviewed or avoided is achieved by quantifying their Carbon Footprint (CF). With respect to these needs, our research area is the available literature analysing the CF of agri-food products from a life cycle perspective. The reduced availability of studies using this approach results in the lack of a solid basis for the agri-food sector to make a change from in production processes. Quantifying CFs offers the opportunity to act at the most impactful stages of a product’s life cycle. In addition to producing products sustainably, it would allow operators in the sector to integrate additional sources of income, through, for instance, participation in the voluntary carbon market or simply by obtaining a premium price for environmental friendly products. The main objective of the study is therefore to understand how the literature deals with the quantification of food CFs, which methodologies it adopts and what insights it provides for future studies that can help policy makers and the sector in question. The review was conducted by applying the PRISMA methodology, which offers guidelines for proper data collection in a literature review. For this purpose, the search was conducted on the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The literature considered highlighted an important historical path in the world of international CF standards with the transition from the ISO/TS 14067 technical specification to the ISO 14067 international standard. However, the range of products analysed is small and no comparative studies on the results obtained by different standards were found. Again, the literature on the subject does not take into account consumer perceptions of low-carbon products nor the economic perspectives of operators. The information we have obtained from our study provides a solid basis for future research, which should focus on increasing the number of agri-food products analysed and examining which parts of the production cycle need improvement. This also opens the door to future research scenarios concerning possible alternative sources of income for those who produce in a carbon-neutral manner and the benefits for consumers willing to buy them.

Organic farming nowadays is held up as a model of sustainability; however, this is not always an economic advantage for farmers due to the reduced yields compared to the conventional regime. The aim of the study is therefore to provide an environmental and economic analysis of the innovative organic model proposed by the Bresov project to assess its sustainability. The study is therefore based on a Life Cycle Assessment methodology and the economic evaluation, through the calculation of the gross income of innovative organic and conventional broccoli cultivation in Sicily. The impact categories analysed reported a 60–100% reduction in impact in the case of innovative organic compared to conventional. From an economic point of view, although there is a minimal reduction in yield in organic compared to conventional, there is an increase in production costs that translates into a reduction in the gross income of approximately 61%. These gaps are filled when the organic product is granted a premium price and thanks to aid from the Common Agricultural Policy. The innovative organic approach, characterised by new products and soil management methods, confirms it as an alternative to conventional. This approach contrasts with the mere substitution of synthetic products.