Purpose: The paper explores whether consumers' environmentally sustainable attitudes and behaviors (e.g. saving water, energy, etc.) are associated with high frequency of local food purchases. The study uses a large sample of individual data collected across all Italian regions as well as accounts for the respondents' socioeconomic characteristics.Design/methodology/approach: The analysis uses a large sample of individual-level data (n = 21,081) collected by the Italian National Bureau of Statistics in the annual Italian Multipurpose Households Survey (MHS). Data contain individual information on the frequency of local food purchases as well as socioeconomic characteristics and environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviors. Data were analyzed using a multivariate ordered log_it regression.Findings: Results indicate that individuals sensitive to environmental issues and adopting sustainable behaviors are more likely to purchase local food products than others. Also, age, education and occupational status positively are associated with a high frequency of local food purchases. Reading food nutrition labels, living in small communities as well as buying organic products are strong predictors of a higher frequency of local food choices.Originality/value: The role of individual sustainable attitudes and behaviors in local food purchases has been marginally investigated in the literature. We addressed the issue by jointly accounting for several individual-related characteristics potentially shaping such relation. To the best of authors’ knowledge, the authors use the largest sample ever used to explore the individual's local food purchases in Italy.

Climate change poses significant challenges to agricultural systems in the Mediterranean region, with Italy being significantly affected. This literature scoping review aims to examine existing research on the impact of climate change on yield and income on the three agri-food value chains in Italy: viticulture, fruit and vegetables, and dairy cattle. By analysing the available literature, this study seeks to outline the pros and cons, knowledge gaps, and potential areas for future research. A systematic search of scientific databases was conducted to identify relevant articles published between 2000 and 2022. The search terms included climate change, agriculture, Italy, yield, income, and related keywords. Articles were screened based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, resulting in a final selection of studies. Quantitative information was collected and organized into descriptive tables. The review encompassed 44 studies that investigated the impact of climate change on yield and income in various agricultural sectors across different regions of Italy. The findings indicate that climate change is already impacting crop productivity and income levels, with increased temperature, changes in precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events being identified as the primary drivers. Additionally, disparities were observed between different agricultural regions, crops, and farming systems, highlighting the need for location-specific and crop-specific assessments. The scoping review provides a prospective overview of the existing literature on climate change impacts on yield and income within the Italian agriculture system. It underscores the urgency for targeted adaptation strategies to minimize the negative consequences of climate change. Further research should focus on understanding the complex interactions between climate change, agricultural practices, socio-economic factors, and policy interventions to develop context-specific solutions for sustainable agriculture in Italy. Graphical abstract

Nature-based solutions (NBSs), defined as actions that work with and enhance nature, providing environmental, social, and economic benefits, play a pivotal role in accomplishing multiple objectives within the Water–Ecosystem–Food Nexus domain. They contribute to facilitating the transition to more resilient agrifood systems and providing an evidence base for a broader Nexus policy dialogue. This paper describes the stepwise methodology developed in the EU-funded LENSES project to carry out a comprehensive analysis of NBSs in six pilot areas in five Mediterranean countries and presents the results of NBS implementation in four pilot areas, highlighting obstacles and opportunities. The methodology includes the development of an analytical evaluation framework and a comprehensive catalogue of Nexus-related NBSs, whose suitability needs to be assessed at the local level to achieve better use of protected/natural ecosystems, increase the sustainability and multifunctionality of managed ecosystems, and design and manage novel ecosystems. Subsequently, in a collective learning process that supported the operationalisation of the WEF Nexus, NBSs were identified that address specific contextual vulnerabilities, improve water distribution, and enhance food security while preserving ecosystems and supporting adaptation to climate change. The added value of the proposed methodology lies in the multi-stakeholder participatory approach to gain in-depth knowledge of local agri-food systems, including their main WEF-related challenges, and to facilitate overcoming barriers to NBS implementation. Finally, a final survey was conducted among a small group of purposively selected stakeholders to gain some insight into their perceptions of the impact of NBS and to gather some opinions on the main barriers and opportunities.

The new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2023–2027 commits farmers towards achieving ambitious environmental objectives through farm organization and management. This European agricultural policy has adapted to the contemporary challenges faced by the new model of agricultural development. It aims to enhance the contribution of agriculture to the EU’s environmental and climate objectives while providing better targeted support to small-scale farmers to promote farms’ competitiveness. The main objective of this paper is to describe Italian farms and classify them into groups based on their main characteristics, as well as to analyze their performance and behavior in terms of sustainability and competitiveness. The novelty and innovativeness of this study are found in the data used; a 2020 dataset from the Italian Farm Accounting Data Network (FADN) was used. The quality of FADN data in farm sustainability assessment is widely acknowledge in the literature. To achieve the purpose of this study, a multivariate analysis, in particular, the Principal Components Analysis (PCA), and a Cluster Analysis (CA) were applied. These analyses helped us to obtain the factorial axes which then enabled us to identify economic information on farms, and a better interpretation of farmers’ aptitude to undertake environmentally friendly actions. As a result, eight groups of farms were identified, and their characteristics and performance were described at Italian district level. The results of the study reflect the influence of European interventions towards encouraging farmers to use more environmentally friendly agricultural practices. Under this perspective, the findings contribute to the current debate on green architecture pursued by the future European agricultural policy.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an assessment of the economic convenience of adopting adaptation measures to climate change at farm level. Concerns raised about climate risks on agriculture indicate that adaptation of the agricultural sector to climate change is necessary to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change. Despite many opportunities to implement climate adaptation measures at farm level, there are several obstacles to their adoption. Farmers’ decision to implement adaptation measures lies in the difficulty of accessing knowledge about adaptation practices and in the lack of resources for upfront investments required by adaptation. The need to investigate economic convenience in terms of costs and benefits of adopting adaptation measures to prevent or reduce damage from adverse climatic events by farmers arises from this consideration. More importantly, climate protection and management of climate change are European environmental policy objectives. However, adaptation to climate change remains complex, and literature on the costs and benefit of agricultural adaptation is limited. Based on these considerations, this paper provides an analysis of the economic convenience of adopting adaptation measures in Italian farms. The economic convenience to implement adaptation measures is calculated on the reduction of the impact of climate damage. Our results show the economic convenience of adaptation measures. These findings help to improve the still too limited access to information on adaptation policies at farm level as well as the benefits that adaptation produces in economic and environmental terms, on human and ecosystem health. This study supports farmers’ decisions in adopting climate adaptation measures and provides information for policy makers to identify specific financial instruments for adaptation measures.

Purpose – Geographical Indications (GI) are complex and multi-purpose institutions. Their objectives include encouraging diversification of agricultural production, improving farmers’ income, countering depopulation of rural areas, satisfying consumer demand for high-quality good, and protecting consumers from food fraud. The authors argue that such objectives are not necessarily aligned as divergence may arise among stakeholders (such as farmers, consumers or rural communities) about the optimal design of the GI. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors developed a simple, static game-theory model describing the basic choices that a planner faces in designing a GI. Findings – The authors conclude that the optimal organization requires finding trade-offs among conflicting but equally desirable objectives. Perfect monitoring is not a sufficient condition to resolve such conflicts. Sub-consortia and flexible production agreements may increase the efficiency of a GI. ...