This issue of Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy includes two Special Issues and a selection of Regular Articles, reflecting the journal’s international and interdisciplinary scope.

The Special Issue "Water Resources for Sustainable Agriculture" focuses on water as a strategic resource for agricultural sustainability under climate change. The papers examine grazing impacts on ecosystems, irrigation water reuse, investment planning, and sustainable water management practices in agriculture and viticulture.

The Special Issue “The Future of Agriculture and Food Industry: Trends and Challenges” explores key structural and sustainability-related dynamics in contemporary agri-food systems, with a focus on developing economies. The contributions address themes such as environmental impacts of economic growth, digital technologies for traceability, consumer choices, and green human resource management as drivers of sustainable agricultural performance.

The Regular Articles section complements these themes with empirical and methodological studies on consumer behaviour, agricultural finance, policy support, food security, gender inclusion, farm efficiency, organic food consumption, and ESG initiatives in the food and beverage sector, drawing evidence from diverse geographical contexts.

Volume 27, Issue 2 of Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy includes five regular articles authored by scholars from Portugal, Malaysia, Indonesia and Italy. In addition, this issue further includes a special section including a guest editorial and three contributions from the XXXII Conference of the Società Italiana di Economia Agro-Alimentare (SIEA), held in Ragusa (Italy) in June 2024 under the theme “Knowledge and Information for a Sustainable and Innovative Agri-Food System”.

Topics range from review articles as well as country and sector specific topics. All regular articles focus on different perspectives on various food production systems. The first article is providing a review of sustainable food supply chains in maritime ports with subject areas covering management, economic, and social dimensions. A second article is about the impact of R&D investments on resilience in the agricultural sector in Malaysia. A third article is about evaluation of food quality attributes on Generation Z’s preferences for beverages in Indonesia. The fourth paper is a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the food bank research literature. Finally, the last article focuses on linkages between livelihood assets and technical efficiency of cocoa farmer households in Indonesia.

Contributions in the Special Issue reflect ongoing debates on innovation, sustainability, consumer trends, and policy in agri-food systems, spanning contexts from local case studies to international perspectives. Topics range from challenges and opportunities for the food sector in rural mountain areas, consumer’s attitude in relation to wine production and finally EU Pesticide Policy seen in a sustainability perspective.

Volume 27, Issue 1 of Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy includes six regular articles authored by scholars from Italy, Croatia, Indonesia, Brazil, and Thailand. Topics range from the integration of social sustainability in agribusiness marketing strategies to feed scarcity challenges faced by smallholder farmers during the dry season. Other contributions examine industry concentration and competitiveness in Indonesia’s Crude Palm Oil sector, innovative behavior among Brazilian family farmers, and the economic drivers of profitability in cattle fattening systems in Thailand. The issue also explores consumer acceptance of functional animal-based foods, focusing on omega-3-enriched eggs. The perspectives offered span from local case studies to international contexts, reflecting current trends in innovation, sustainability, and agri-food market dynamics.

The perspective is both regional, with specific case studies in Sardinia (Italy), southern Brazil, Jember (Indonesia), and Sakon Nakhon in Thailand, and global and international, considering themes including food trade, consumption, and sustainability. Collectively, the issue reflects contemporary challenges and opportunities in innovation, sustainability, and the evolving dynamics of agri-food systems.