Farmers struggle to combat uncertain climate issues while encountering pressure on conventional farming practices that lead to carbon emissions, water and soil pollution, and other environmental harms. A growing body of literature investigated circular economy and sustainable practices to support environmental-friendly agriculture activities while providing opportunities for farmers to improve their farm income. Therefore, a study synthesizing previous literature while identifying actual policy to boost farmers’ implementation of sustainable agriculture is worthwhile. Using the Systematic Literature Review analysis, this paper aims to identify farmers’ views on climate change adaptation and mitigation, challenges in implementing circular economy and sustainable practices, and policies to support farmers’ transition toward sustainable agriculture in developed and developing countries. We found that (1) farmers’ awareness of climate change, knowledge and skills are prominent for adapting and mitigating climate change in both types of countries, (2) farmland size, risks of income loss, and training and extension services influenced farmers’ adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change in developing countries, (3) farmers in both types of countries experienced uncertainty in economic profits and legislative issues when adopting sustainable practices, while farmers in developing countries issued significant up-front expenses to acquire technology to adopt sustainable practices, (4) financial access and incentives through policy can be valuable to develop sustainable livelihoods, especially for farm households.

Sustainable agricultural solutions have emerged as feasible options for mitigating the negative environmental impacts created by agricultural production or adapting to inevitable climate change. Organic food production has become one of the most popular sustainable solutions among these. There is also a clear scientific consensus that transformative changes in agricultural systems and practice are needed as a response to the effects of climate change. A great variety of factors that influence the transition to organic farming have been found and identified over time. To understand the dynamics that lead farmers to move to organic farming, it is necessary to examine the relationship between these factors. In this study, we investigated the impacts of certain factors on the possibility of Hungarian farmers’ conversion to organic production in the context of climate change adaptation. This dynamic was studied using descriptive and exploratory techniques on a cross-sectional sample. While the study supported certain well-established facts, it also yielded some surprising findings. One of our findings is that the transition to organic farming does not seem to be motivated by the perception of bad weather events, which is somewhat surprising. This outcome contradicts the frequently claimed idea that organic farming may be a successful adaptation strategy.

This paper aims to analyze comprehensively the climate exposure, sensitivity, perception, adaptive capacity, vulnerability, and resilience of the Hungarian agricultural sector, particularly focusing on fruit, vegetable, and grape producers. Four distinct Hungarian case studies were examined, representing different regions with diverse environmental and socioeconomic conditions. The research combined quantitative and qualitative methods, including statistical and GIS analysis of climate, agricultural, and socioeconomic data, as well as field research and semi-structured interviews. The study investigated exposure, sensitivity, perception, and adaptation, leading to the identification of key components and influencing factors. Qualitative research revealed that farms operating in geographically close proximity, in the same regulatory and support environment, can have different adaptive capacities. In the current state of the adaptation process, the extent to which farmers can rely on supportive professional networks and seek out and adopt new practices is crucial. Field experience suggests that without a strong and supportive producer organization (extension network), farmers may prefer to resort to extensification (afforestation) to mitigate production risks. From a development policy perspective, it is worthwhile to present good practices and provide information on possible adaptation techniques through existing local sectoral organizations.

The global wine industry has experienced profound changes over the past decades. But no matter how fundamental these changes have been, they have hardly affected the duality of global wine production. Competition between producers from the Old World and the New World has been the dominant notion not only in the international wine trade and consumption but in academic discourses too. This paper aims to contribute to the latter by presenting a wine region from the Central and Eastern European region. The Mátra wine region, located in Hungary, is a perfect example of the various difficulties that a post-transitional wine region has had to face under free market conditions. By applying case study research strategy, the paper examines the development of the Mátra wine region over the past twenty-five years, focusing on region-specific issues that have slowed down its adaptation to these new circumstances.

A mezőgazdasági szektor klímasérülékenysége kiemelkedően magas, különösen a szőlő-, gyümölcs- és zöldségtermesztés ágazataiban. Az éghajlati adaptációt számos nemzetközi és hazai szakpolitikai stratégia prioritásként kezeli. Tanulmányunkban egységes elméleti keretrendszert kívánunk kialakítani, amely lehetővé teszi a klímasérülékenység komplex értelmezését. A kutatás célja a szőlő-, gyümölcs- és zöldségtermesztők klímasérülékenységének elemzése négy hazai mintaterületen, a kitettség, érzékenység és adaptációs képesség vizsgálatán keresztül; a gazdálkodók klímaváltozással kapcsolatos percepciójának bemutatása; a gazdálkodók által használt jó adaptációs gyakorlatok feltárása; a kitettség, az érzékenység, percepció és adaptációs képesség területi különbségeit befolyásoló környezeti, társadalmi és gazdasági tényezők azonosítása. A vizsgálat kvalitatív (félig strukturált interjúk) és kvantitatív (sérülékenységi mutatók számítása) módszereket alkalmazott. Az eredmények alapján a gazdálkodók egyöntetűen érzékelték az éghajlatváltozás negatív hatásait, bár percepciójuk részben eltért a mért adatoktól. A gazdák számos adaptációs gyakorlatot alkalmaznak, az innovatív módszerek különösen a magas társadalmi tőkével és erős hálózatokkal rendelkező területeken terjedtek gyorsan. A sikeres alkalmazkodás nem kizárt sem a magas éghajlati kitettség, sem a kedvezőtlen társadalmi-gazdasági körülmények mellett. Az elszigeteltség ösztönzőleg hathat az adaptációra, de a legrosszabb helyzetben lévő perifériákon az alapvető források és képességek hiánya miatt az alkalmazkodás ellehetetlenülhet.