The objective of the paper is to understand the process of designing a multi-stakeholder partnership in the adoption of sustainable innovations in value chains. More specifically, the focus is on the design of feasible types of horizontal agreements and contractual formulas to be implemented in the agri-food supply chain in order to introduce sustainable agricultural practices. To this purpose, the Barilla Sustainable Farming initiative, which is currently in the first phase of designing an MSP, is used as a case study.

The term monoculture is widely used in the scientific literature concerning the agricultural sector. However, it is very difficult to find a clear and shared definition of this term. This study investigates the concept of monoculture in agricultural areas where high specialization in a specific crop is observed. Therefore, we refer to a territorial-level definition, which associates the idea of monoculture to the prevalent presence of a crop in a region including many farms. The objectives of the paper are: (i) to define indicators capable of verifying the existence of this condition; (ii) to test the ability of such indicators in identifying the effective presence of a monoculture. A set of Italian areas identified as monoculture in the recent literature were selected to carry out a quantitative analysis, assessing different indexes of monoculture. On the basis of the obtained results, such an analysis should help in comparing the monoculture indexes and fostering a discussion on their suitability and descriptive capacities.

The paper proposes a possible way of spatially representing sustainability in Italy. For this purpose, the ecological footprint approach was used as a methodological framework to assess the level of sustainability of the 8092 Italian municipalities. For each municipality, the exploitation of ecosystem services, assessed by the ecological footprint indicator, and the corresponding availability of biological capacity, associated to an indicator, have been calculated and compared, thus generating a map representing the relative sustainability of Italian municipalities. The results show a very scattered distribution of ecological balance, wherein unsustainable conditions characterize more than 60% of the territory and almost 95% of the Italian population. Despite the limitations of the methodology and some assumptions regarding the ecological footprint assessment at the municipality level, the study represents an attempt to produce an innovating tool that, based on an operational definition of sustainability, can represent natural resource exploitation at the local level, and provide useful information to address coherent and targeted environmental policies of sustainability.

Specialized agricultural systems may have a strong environmental impact, thus affecting the sustainability of production. The aim of this study is to evaluate the overall environmental impact of the hazelnut production, focusing on the main Italian production area, which is located in the province of Viterbo (central Italy). The theoretical approach adopted in this study refers to the paradigm of ecological economics, recalling the concept of strong sustainability through the conservation of natural capital and its non-replacement with economic capital. This environmental sustainability of farming systems is assessed through the ecological balance (EB) tool by comparing the availability and use of natural capital in each farm scenario. This allows to understand the extent of the load generated on the environment by the different farm’s typologies, as well as the impact on the entire territory where hazelnut cultivation is predominant. For the assessment, local typical farm scenarios are assessed through a Delphi consultation of a panel of experts, thus characterizing the cultivation techniques most frequently adopted in the area. Three typologies of representative farms emerge, which mainly differ for cultivation method and dimension. Cultivation methods associated with the larger farms (both conventional and organic) generate a positive contribution to EB, whereas small farms (conventional) have a negative EB due to the high utilization of inputs. However, the positive balance of the large farms compensates for the negative balance of the small ones. This determines a total positive environmental balance of the specialized production area of Viterbo, equal to 9412 gha. This means that hazelnut farming at a territorial level is sustainable thanks to specific farm managements, which can be promoted by policy-makers.

The aim of this paper is to enhance the well-being of marginalized areas by improving their local economy, considering the correlation between socioeconomic marginalization and environmental sustainability. These two objectives are at the core of the international and European policy agenda, but they are not often merged in one action. Within this study, we selected a marginal area in central Italy and assessed its environmental sustainability, using the method of the ecological balance. The results show that this territory has the capacity to provide an amount of natural capital greater than the ecological footprint generated by local production activities, thus the value of the ecological balance is positive. Then, we discussed how local policies can favor processes focused on agricultural products coming from areas recognized as sustainable. Environmental sustainability can be work as a branding strategy, which can raise the market value of the products and the farmers’ income, thus supporting the economic development of marginal areas and promoting the protection of their natural capital.