The agricultural sector is facing the challenge of climate change, which is increasing difficulties to the activity and the economic sustainability of the primary sector, also affecting farmers’ revenues. There is a growing need to support policy makers’ decisions and help them develop cross-sectional strategies to support farmers. To this aim and to collect useful information for policy makers and stakeholders for the development of efficient strategies for the management of dryland farming, the paper examines how this issue has been analysed in the literature. A mixed method, based on a systematic literature review and a bibliometric analysis of 79 Scopus documents using VOSviewer software, was applied. Major results highlight the need to implement participatory policy interventions so as to include farmers. It was possible to summarise the main adaptive and technical interventions implemented by farmers. The results indicated the importance of the concept of the resilience of territories and the need to analyse agricultural systems by considering their multifunctionality. The innovativeness of this study relies on its relationships with several policy aspects and not only with purely technical and agronomical features, analysing thus the issue from the under-investigated perspective of the global challenge, contributing to filling this literature gap.

Risk management in agriculture is crucial and policymakers are implementing policy reforms to foster farmers’ adoption of ex-ante risk management tools such as crop insurance: their effectiveness is the core of policy evaluations exercises. The Italian subsidised crop insurance market has been interested by major reforms in 2013 and 2015. The 2013 reform removed subsidies to the mono-risk insurance contracts, whereas the 2015 reform replaced the multi- and pluri-risks contract schemes with packages, devoted to providing coverage over different set of adversities, thus altering the framework that has been used for several years. We show that the first reform contributed to the drop in the quantity of insurance purchased, whereas the latter reform has increased the quality of the purchased insurance.

One of the new Common Agricultural Policy 2023–2027 goals is the reduction of chemical pesticides in agriculture to 50% by 2030, to enhance the environmental sustainability of the agricultural sector. One promising venue entails gradually substituting pesticides with more sustainable products and strategies. However, there is a low adoption level of these strategies. Understanding farmers’ motivation to adopt more sustainable alternatives to conventional pesticides is of utmost importance because of the implementation of new policies. This scoping review gathers and summarises the results of existing studies concerning factors affecting (positively and negatively) farmers’ adoption of sustainable pesticide alternatives. Applying the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews methodology allowed the identification of 53 original papers in 2002–2024. The findings reveal that individual education, knowledge of specific practices, and the government’s role in spreading knowledge and providing subsidies to cover the higher costs are among the most influential factors in farmers’ adoption of sustainable pest management practices. Governments could therefore enhance sustainable practices by promoting training activities, providing financial subsidies and by guaranteeing higher final product prices. Furthermore, more targeted policies are needed because of the specificity of each territory, facing diverse environmental and regulatory conditions. Accordingly, also scientific research plays a key role by studying and providing sustainable pest management alternatives for specific territories.

To address climate change, reducing food loss along the production and supply chain is a global priority. Addressing this challenge requires a shift in agrifood systems toward greater sustainability, in which new technologies and novel foods appear as promising strategies. Among emerging novel foods, 3D-printed foods are an interesting new food technology for food loss reduction, resource optimization, and by-product valorization. However, to reach market success, it needs consumer acceptance, a topic far unexplored, particularly in the Italian context. To fill the literature gap, this article investigates Italian consumers’ intention toward 3D-printed savory snacks using an extended Theory of Planned Behavior, based upon the relevant literature. Survey data were collected, and partial least squares structural equation modeling was performed to test research hypotheses. Results show that attitude and subjective norms are the strongest predictors of purchase intention. In addition, perceived usefulness is shown to be a powerful construct, positively impacting attitude and subjective norms, while self-identity as a green consumer reinforces perceptions of the benefits of 3D-printed foods. Sensory appeal impacts consumer attitude. These insights have practical policy and micro-level applications, suggesting tailored strategies, educational campaigns, and supportive policies and marketing campaigns for fostering acceptance of 3D printing in the agrifood sector.

Climate change, with the increase in ambient temperatures and heat waves, is worsening the health and welfare of sheep. International policies are promoting the use of natural additives to sustain livestock health and welfare. Citrus essential oils (CEO), bioactive plant extracts, have several beneficial effects on livestock, in particular anti-inflammatory properties. This study investigated ex ante the possible strategies for the development of CEO in sheep breeding. A Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats-Strategic Orientation round (SWOT-SOr) approach was used, and 2 emerging strategies were identified, namely the "attack" and "face the crisis" strategies. This study allowed the identification of desirable actions to spread the use of CEO in the sheep sector. Policy implications deriving from the results are also provided.

Historical small towns (HSTs) embody irreplaceable cultural heritage and territorial identity, facing depopulation, economic marginalization, and infrastructure decay. Improving their liveability and attractiveness is essential to reverse these trends and boost sustainable development. In this context, HSTs are potential drivers of circular and sustainable socio-technical systems, where the circular economy (CE) offers a framework for local sustainability. However, HSTs lack adequate sustainable CE implementation tools. This study, the culmination of the H-SMA-CE project, develops a Decision Support System (DSS) to assist local policymakers in planning CE transitions in Italian HSTs. The DSS integrates three building blocks: context analysis (metabolic flows, stakeholder networks), an intervention library with cost–benefit data, and a composite Municipal Circular Economy Index (MCEI). The tool enables users to assess baseline circularity, simulate scenarios, and identify optimal investment portfolios through multi-objective optimization. This approach allows for the simultaneous evaluation of the benefits of each sustainability aspect, i.e., environmental, economic and social. Tested on the municipality of Taurasi (Italy), an HST with a wine-based economy, the results show that balanced intervention strategies yield greater circularity improvements than single-objective approaches. The paper contributes to the discourse on digital tools for sustainability transitions, offering a replicable model for evidence-based CE governance in heritage-rich territorial contexts.