A scoping review on the socio-economic issues of agroecology was published in the SpringerNature journal Agricultural and Food Economics.
The study, authored by researchers from the University of Bari Aldo Moro and the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, analyzed 183 articles from 84 academic journals to identify the main socio-economic issues studied and the key results achieved by scholars in this field.
The review found that agroecology research spans multiple disciplines, including Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Social Sciences, Environmental Science, and Economics.
The literature was categorized into seven main research topics: agroecological transition, assessment of production systems, food security and food sovereignty, market studies, political dimension, research and education agenda, and rural and urban development. The review highlighted the geographical distribution of research, noting that most studies come from institutions in the Global North while the Global South is underrepresented. However, some countries like Brazil and France have made progress in incorporating agroecological principles into national policies. The scoping review provides a comprehensive overview of the socio-economic issues of agroecology and identifies research gaps to guide future studies in this domain.
The full text of the paper is freely available from the SpringerNature website at https://agrifoodecon.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40100-024-00311-z