Sustainable Agricultural Value Chains for Food Security, Green Growth and Environmental Governance in Emerging Economies

Sustainable agricultural value chains are critical for achieving green growth, food security, and environmental resilience in emerging economies. However, many agricultural activities continue to exert pressure on ecosystems through deforestation, land-use change, and resource depletion. High-value, land-intensive crops, such as oil palm, cocoa, coffee, and other agricultural commodities, can contribute significantly to rural economic development, yet they also pose complex environmental and social challenges. Growing global demand for food, feed, and bio-based products further intensifies these pressures. Strengthening environmental governance, integrating sustainable production practices, and ensuring equitable value distribution along supply chains are key to transforming agriculture into a driver of inclusive and sustainable development. This Research Topic seeks to advance understanding of how agricultural value chains can align economic growth with food security, environmental protection, and social equity.

Despite increased policy attention, sustainability standards, and certification schemes, implementation of sustainable agricultural practices remains fragmented across sectors and regions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Existing research often examines sustainability through single-sector or commodity-specific lenses, overlooking how governance structures, trade dynamics, food security concerns, climate resilience, and social equity interact across value chains. There is an urgent need to assess integrated approaches that reconcile economic opportunities with environmental limits and inclusive development. This Research Topic aims to bridge these gaps by promoting cross-sectoral analyses and regionally grounded case studies, with a special focus on emerging economies. Key questions include: How can agricultural value chains, such as oil palm, cocoa, coffee, or other high-value crops, be made more inclusive, resilient, and ecologically sustainable? What governance models and policy instruments are most effective in balancing growth, conservation, and food security? And what lessons can be drawn for achieving long-term resilience in food systems?

This Research Topic welcomes submissions that examine sustainable strategies across agricultural value chains, with attention to how food systems can support environmental conservation, food security, livelihoods, and inclusive green growth. Rather than focusing exclusively on oil palm, the collection uses oil palm cultivation as one important example of broader sustainability challenges facing agricultural production systems, particularly in emerging and developing economies. Contributions may include empirical case studies, policy analyses, comparative research, modelling approaches, and theoretical perspectives that explore how agricultural value chains can balance productivity, biodiversity protection, climate resilience, and equitable value distribution.

Suggested sub-themes include, but are not limited to:

• Governance and policy frameworks for sustainable agricultural value chains

• Economic and social dimensions of green and inclusive growth in emerging economies

• Sustainable practices and technologies in oil palm and comparable crops

• Food security, livelihoods, and resilience in agricultural production systems

• Environmental trade-offs, land use, and biodiversity conservation strategies

• Value distribution, smallholder inclusion, and rural development

• Metrics, modelling, and sustainability assessments of production systems

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Sustainable agricultural value chains, Food security, Green growth, Environmental governance, Emerging economies, Smallholder inclusion

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.