Agroecology for People and Planet Health: Farming Practices to Shift Food Systems Towards Equity, Resilience and The Production of Public Goods

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 2876

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 2, Milan, Italy
Interests: agroecology; farming system sustainability
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Guest Editor
RHEA Research Centre and Agroecology Europe, 1435 Corbais, Belgium
Interests: agroecology; no-till system; cover crops; grasslands; crop/livestock-integrated systems

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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 2, Milan, Italy
Interests: soil organic carbon; remote sensing dryland; grassland
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Through the use of research and innovation, the global ecological emergency calls for immediate action to address major environmental challenges, such as global hunger, climate change, land degradation, the loss of biodiversity, depletion of water resources, and pollution.  

The complex nature of environmental problems requires recognition that we must face these challenges overcoming the—still widespread—reductionist approach in agricultural sciences and promoting relational thinking and disciplinary integration. Agroecology, born under the premise of addressing the environmental sustainability challenges of food production integrating scientific knowledge, society, and politics, is still an evolving discipline. From farm to fork and back, from the microbiology of soils to human microbiota, and from digital agriculture techniques to the management of agricultural landscapes, there are many relationships and connections still to be studied and redefined to improve people’s quality of life, restore biodiversity, and mitigate/adapt to climate change. The link between human and planet health must also be better understood.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to provide an updated, integrated, and broad picture of emerging trends in agroecology and innovations in sustainable farming practices. We encourage conceptual and empirical contributions regarding (i) innovative qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods for the analysis and assessment of the sustainability of agri-food systems; (ii) innovative design processes and practices that, starting from the agronomic and societal need to safeguard agricultural soil fertility and produce healthy food, could help in identifying solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation; and (iii) innovative systemic/relational research frameworks in agroecology, linking the ecological and human health dimensions.

Prof. Dr. Stefano Bocchi
Prof. Dr. Alain Peeters
Dr. Francesco Fava
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • agroecology
  • agro-food systems sustainability
  • planetary health
  • human health and nutrition
  • ecosystem restoration

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 758 KiB  
Article
Contribution of Household Aquaponic Production to a Low Price Healthy Mediterranean Diet in an Economically Depressed Community
by Víctor M. Fernández-Cabanás, Gina Patricia Suárez-Cáceres, Luis Pérez-Urrestarazu, José Lobillo-Eguíbar and Jackson A. Gross
Agronomy 2023, 13(2), 498; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13020498 - 9 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2138
Abstract
Homestead aquaponic production has been proposed as a reasonable alternative for obtaining food within the framework of the circular economy. However, little is known about the ability of homestead aquaponics to contribute to a healthy diet and the savings it represents on the [...] Read more.
Homestead aquaponic production has been proposed as a reasonable alternative for obtaining food within the framework of the circular economy. However, little is known about the ability of homestead aquaponics to contribute to a healthy diet and the savings it represents on the cost of such diets for inhabitants of economically depressed communities. In the present work, based on a case study, the nutritional contribution of vegetables and fish produced in one year has been calculated, with the goal of determining the contribution of aquaponics to the healthy diet of an adult during this study period. The amount of external food products that should be purchased, the nutritional contribution of the complete diet (comparing it with that of a Mediterranean diet), and its cost have also been determined. The results show that achieving a balanced diet in macronutrients, minerals and essential nutrients with aquaponics is feasible, with a real cost of about 3.07 euros per person per day, amounting to a mean savings of 22% compared to the market price of food. The percentage of nutrient contribution of aquaponic foods exceeds in most cases 20%, being especially high for protein, dietary fiber, some minerals such as potassium, and vitamins. Full article
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