Cotton cultivation is resource-intensive, posing significant environmental challenges, especially with conventional farming methods. Growing interest in sustainable agriculture drives the exploration of organic farming as a potential alternative with lower environmental impacts. Despite its benefits, organic farming often faces criticism for lower crop yields, sparking debates on the trade-offs between productivity and environmental impact. This study hypothesizes that organic cotton farming will have a smaller environmental footprint and higher energy efficiency compared to conventional methods. To test this hypothesis, a cradle-to-farm gate energy analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA) were conducted on both organic and conventional seed cotton production systems in the Beheira governorate of Egypt. The ReCiPe 2016 midpoint and endpoint characterization model was used for an environmental impact assessment. The impacts were evaluated using two functional units: one ton of seed cotton and one hectare of cultivated cotton. The findings revealed that organic cotton outperforms conventional cotton in net energy gain, efficiency, and profitability, with higher productivity and lower energy intensity. Regardless of the functional unit used (mass- or land-based), the assessed organic systems generally show a better environmental performance than the conventional systems in the local context, even when accounting for data uncertainty. This is due to lower input intensity and the use of less energy-intensive organic fertilizers and bio-fertilizers. Fertilization and irrigation are key factors influencing environmental impacts, with fertilization affecting midpoint impacts and irrigation affecting endpoint impacts. Therefore, precision fertilization, efficient irrigation practices, and effective nutrient and soil moisture management are recommended to minimize environmental impacts. Subsequent studies could explore whether similar patterns are observed in different geographic regions and evaluate additional social and economic aspects of cotton sustainability beyond environmental impacts. Future agricultural LCAs should use both mass-based and area-based functional units to capture a broader range of environmental effects and evaluate the co-benefits and trade-offs between organic and conventional practices.

Sustainable and healthy diets are crucial for reducing diet-related diseases, safeguarding planetary health, and promoting equity in food systems. This study calculated the minimum cost of omnivorous and vegetarian diets, based on the new Austrian food-based dietary guidelines, compared to the actual Austrian diet based on the Austrian Nutrition Report 2017. Food price data from 13 retail outlets covering 220 food items were used. Using the least expensive 3–7 products per group and recommended intake levels, we calculated diet minimum costs and assessed affordability relative to income and food expenditure data from Statistik Austria 2021. The estimated minimum cost for the actual diet was 6.74 €/day (organic) versus 3.81 €/day (conventional). The omnivorous diet cost 6.27 € (organic) and 3.37 € (conventional), while the vegetarian diet was cheapest at 4.62 € (organic) and 2.83 € (conventional). On average, organic food items were 75% more expensive than conventional equivalents. Expanding food diversity increased costs by 9–10% per additional item per food group. For organic products, the cooperative supermarket was least costly. For organic omnivorous and actual diets, minimum costs were above the food expenditures of the lowest expenditure decile, while for organic vegetarian diets, they were below this threshold. The lowest income group would need to spend 12.7–19.5% of their income for an organic, and 8.0–8.6% for a conventional, minimum-cost omnivorous diet. Minimum-cost approaches may underestimate the lived reality of food poverty and access barriers. Policy actions are needed to support affordability, accessibility, availability, and social inclusion to ensure that sustainable and healthy diets are attainable for all segments of society.

Introduction: Many farming systems across Africa suffer from insufficient recirculation and replenishment of nutrients and organic matter, contributing to soil degradation. At the same time the scant management of municipal organic waste, agro-processing residues, and human excreta creates substantial externalities. Valorizing organic waste and recycling it back to farmland could create a win-win situation. This exploratory, cross-sectional study investigated the current state and emerging trends in ex situ organic waste recycling toward organic fertilizers and soil amendments (OFSA) across eleven African countries. The topic is timely, as recent disruptions in inorganic fertilizer supply chains may have heightened interest in ex situ OFSA. Methods: We triangulated 74 key informant interviews with document and literature review, using the Technological Innovation System framework as analytical lens. Results and discussion: Our analysis shows that while all system functions have progressed beyond the “pre-development” phase, most still remain in an early formation stage. Core functions such as entrepreneurial activities, knowledge development and diffusion, guidance of the search, market formation, resource mobilization, and legitimacy are emerging, for instance through the introduction of subsidies, the implementation of quality standards, and initial efforts of cross-country coordination. South Africa stands out, with multiple functions institutionalizing and reinforcing one another, characterized by pronounced private sector R&D, established entrepreneur networks and professional associations as well as recycling targets and public support of knowledge brokers. Across all countries, disruptions in national and international value chains are acting as pull factors for increased experimentation, raising demand, and enhancing legitimacy. Certified organic farming and export oriented high value crops constitute important niches. Yet, ex situ volumes remain small relative to organic waste volumes and nutrient demand in agricultural production. Looking ahead, strengthening ‘ guidance of the search ’ and ‘ resource mobilization ’ could drive system development by enhancing resource recovery and recycling of organic waste and closing the loop to agriculture.

Optimizing olive orchard management requires timely, per-tree data to enhance productivity and sustainability. Unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV)-based red, green, and blue (RGB) imagery offers a low-cost solution for acquiring high-resolution spatiotemporal insights for orchard management, which are not yet common in Tunisia. This study monitored tree structural parameters, leaf area index (LAI), and leaf nitrogen content (%N DW) in two Tunisian olive orchards during 2022 and 2023. UAV-derived imagery was photogrammetrically processed into 3D point clouds and analyzed using an automated approach. Target variables of the automated approach included tree-wise estimates of height, projected crown area, and crown volume, as well as raster cell counts of the canopy cloud and spectral indices such as the normalized green-red difference index (NGRDI) and green leaf index (GLI). In addition, the estimated parameters per tree were used to model LAI and leaf nitrogen content. Analyses were conducted separately for trees represented by a high and a low number of points in the dense point cloud. Outcomes were compared to reference data collected in the field on dates close to the UAV flights. The findings showed strong relationships for the projected crown area (R² = 0.82 and 0.91) and tree height (R² = 0.89 and 0.88) when compared to reference values. Linear regression models for LAI (R² = 0.73 and 0.68) and crown volume (R² = 0.85 and 0.91) estimation also show strong relationships. However, leaf nitrogen estimation was not feasible from RGB spectral index values, as it showed a weak relationship (R² = 0.34). A dataset with multispectral imagery could overcome this limitation but would increase costs, making it less suitable for the low-budget approach required in price-sensitive farming contexts, particularly in low-income regions.