This paper deals with the analysis of decision-making processes at the family-farm level with reference to the transition towards sustainable agriculture. Despite literature that has underlined the relevance of education in strategic decision making, less attention has been devoted to the (family) collective decision-making process by taking into account the maximum level of education of the family members regardless of the position and whether they are the manager of the family farm or not. Therefore, this paper tries to fill a gap in literature by emphasizing the family farm’s collective decision-making process. In order to empirically measure this relevance, an econometric model was carried out that allowed us to evidence clear differences in the transition paths among various typologies of family farms on the basis of the level of education. Our results confirm the impact of education at the collective family level on transition towards more sustainable agricultural practices. This is particularly true in remote rural areas, where the transition is realized with higher intensity with respect to other territorial contexts. This brings about policy implications on enskilling farmers and upgrading their level of human capital.

This paper deals with Geographical Indications (GI) as a critical strategy aimed to boost agri-food local supply chain and rural development. The main concern of this work, therefore, is to verify how the identification of these products and establishment of GI systems can propel sustainable development in local areas in Africa. Two assumptions are at the basis of our paper: viable GI systems can be established in Africa, and the establishment of a GI system can stimulate rural development. In order to clarify the process of GI setting up and valorization, we will test GI virtuous circle and the rural web, with the purpose of exploring the multiple dimensions (endogeneity, social capital, sustainability, novelty, institutional arrangements, governance of markets) interfering in the process at both the agri-food supply chain and rural context levels of analysis. The analysis is applied to the shea butter production in Ghana and will employ primary data. Questionnaires and interviews were administered in the study area (Yendi Municipality of Ghana) to gather both qualitative and quantitative data. Our analysis confirms the potentialities of the shea butter as GI, by underlying its engine for the development of local rural communities.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate consumer preferences and profile their food-related lifestyles, as well as to identify consumer groups with similar attitudes/behaviours in the Euro-Mediterranean fruit and vegetable market.Design/methodology/approach: A structured questionnaire was designed drawing from the food related lifestyles instrument and including other factors relevant to fruit and vegetable consumer preferences. The data were collected in an online survey with 925 participants in France, Greece, and Italy. A principal component analysis was conducted to interpret and examine consumers' fruit and vegetable related lifestyles. In addition, a cluster analysis was performed to identify different consumer segments, based on the core dimensions of the food-related lifestyle approach.Findings: In each country, three primary consumer segments were distinguished. Health-conscious individuals were predominant in France and Greece, while quality-conscious consumers were prevalent in Italy. These classifications were determined considering various factors such as purchase motivation, perception of product quality, health concerns, environmental certifications, and price sensitivity.Originality/value: The food-related lifestyle approach has been adapted instrument to create a customised survey instrument specifically designed to capture the intricacies of fruit and vegetable consumer preferences and priorities in three Euro-Mediterranean Countries.

The digitalization of agriculture generates a new environment for the actors involved in agrifood production. In such a context, Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKISs) face the challenge of reconsidering their operational paradigms, redefining priorities, and designing strategies to achieve new aims. To do so, the actors participating in AKISs should develop and exploit a set of competencies known as dynamic capabilities, including the aptitude to sense the change in the external environment, the capacity to seize the opportunities that this change creates, and an ability to transform and adapt themselves to the new conditions that digitalization generates. In this study, using as examples the AKISs operating in Greece and Italy, we aimed to uncover if and how actors participating in these systems attempt and manage to deploy such capabilities. Based on a qualitative approach and drawing on data from two workshops, we discovered that seizing the opportunities sensed is a challenging task for AKIS actors. Our results also indicate that knowledge is a pivotal resource for AKISs, allowing actors to enhance their transformative capacity. However, to create a “collective” knowledge base, AKISs should ensure a functional connection between stakeholders and strengthen the roles of actors not actively engaged with the system, like public advisory organizations, universities, and technology providers.

This study dealt with multifunctional farming, which is meant as a dynamic strategy that is carried out by Italian farms. The path alongside the multifunctional paradigm is carried out through both supply chain and territorial strategies, which deserve more attention. These strategies reinforce sustainable business models characterized by the presence of both deepening and broadening strategies. The first ones are centered around product differentiation and valorization through geographical indications, organic farming, etc. Broadening strategies are implemented through new on-farm activities, such as agritourism, and other gainful activities carried out at the farm level. Set against this background, the article discusses the evolution of farms according to the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) database by putting forward an empirical analysis, which considered the evolution of farm typologies oriented toward multifunctionality in the last decade. The analysis underlined the positive dynamics and the evolution of farms adhering to the multifunctional paradigm. Moreover, as evidenced in the econometric analysis, the adoption of multifunctional farming activities provided a sound contribution to income formation. This addressed some policy issues that were identified at the beginning of the new programming period for rural development of the EU and their resolution aims to reinforce the virtuous trajectory toward multifunctional farming.

Agricultural digitalization emerged as a radical innovation, punctuating the gradual evolution of the agrifood sector and having the potential to fundamentally restructure the context within which extension and advisory organizations operate. Digital technologies are expected to alter the practice and culture of animal farming in the future. To suit the changing environmental conditions, organizations can make minor adjustments or can call into question their purposes, belief systems, and operating paradigms. Each pattern of change is associated with different types of organizational learning. In this conceptual article, adopting an organizational learning perspective and building upon organizational change models, we present two potential change and learning pathways that extension and advisory organizations can follow to cope with digitalization: morphostasis and morphogenesis. Morphostatic change has a transitional nature and helps organizations survive by adapting to the new environmental conditions. Organizations that follow this pathway learn by recognizing and correcting errors. This way, they increase their competence in specific services and activities. Morphogenetic change, on the other hand, occurs when organizations acknowledge the need to move beyond existing operating paradigms, redefine their purposes, and explore new possibilities. By transforming themselves, organizations learn new ways to understand and interpret contextual cues. We conclude by presenting some factors that explain extension and advisory organizations’ tendency to morphostasis.