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Pastoralism has a long tradition in the Mediterranean region. However, there is little evidence about its contribution to sustainable development in the region. Therefore, this review analyses the state of research on the multifaceted relations between pastoralism and sustainable development in the Mediterranean with a particular reference to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It draws upon a systematic review of all documents indexed in the Web of Science by June 2021. The analysis of the scholarly literature suggests that (i) there is a divide with most studies performed in Northern Mediterranean countries; (ii) no article has investigated the contribution of pastoralism to the implementation of the sustainable development agendas (MDGs and SDGs) in the Mediterranean; and (iii) most of the selected articles deal with environmental sustainability (cf. biodiversity, land use, land degradation, deforestation) while social, cultural and economic aspects are generally overlooked. The ongoing processes of intensification, specialisation and modernisation of pastoral systems do not only jeopardise the provision of various ecosystem services, but also put at risk the preservation and sustainability of traditional pastoral systems. Such modernisation also leads to the erosion of pastoral culture and the abandonment of some traditional systems such as sylvo-pastoralism and mobile pastoralism. Sustainable development of pastoralism in the Mediterranean implies improving the livelihoods and living conditions of pastoralists while preserving their unique cultural heritage and social capital and ensuring the continued provision of ecosystem systems. Such development pathway should be guided by and aligned with the SDGs.

The Mediterranean diet is considered an example of sustainable diets and an intangible cultural heritage of the whole humanity. However, attention to the Mediterranean diet changes from a country to another even within the Euro- Mediterranean region. In this context, this paper analyses the state of research on the Mediterranean diet in the Western Balkans (viz. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia). In particular, it explores whether and how environmental, economic, sociocultural, and nutrition-health aspects related to the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet are addressed. A search performed in June 2021 on the Web of Science returned 68 documents, and 41 of them were included in the systematic review. Most of the selected documents deal with Croatia, especially island regions, and focus on health-nutrition aspects while other sustainability dimensions are generally overlooked. The scholarly literature shows that higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with reduced risk of obesity, different noncommunicable diseases (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, metabolic syndrome) as well as mental illnesses. However, it also highlights a decrease in the Mediterranean diet adherence even in Mediterranean/Adriatic territories. Interestingly, some recent studies showed a shift towards the Mediterranean diet during the COVID-19 lockdown even among adolescents. The analysis suggests the need to adopt a holistic approach in studies on the Mediterranean diet to better understand the relationships between the sustainability dimensions and operationalize its contribution to the transformation of food systems and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Mediterranean region.

Despite the increase in agri-food trade, food insecurity is still a pressing challenge in many world regions. This is an indicator of the multifaceted relationship between trade and food security. Moreover, it is not clear how the outbreak of COVID-19 affected this relation. In this context, this article explores the outbreak’s impacts on food security-trade nexus starting from an analysis of the relations between agri-food trade and the four dimensions of food security (viz. availability, access, utilization, stability), and then by exploring how the pandemic has changed this relationship. It draws upon a systematic review of documents indexed in Scopus carried out in October 2020. Results show the central role of trade in ensuring food security and highlight that international trade has been disrupted due to border closures and the indirect consequences of the pandemic containment policies imposed on the industrial business sectors all over the world. Furthermore, we highlight that the current agricultural trade framework, defined by import dependencies and structural fragility, has exacerbated the outbreak’s consequences on food security. Food-related impacts of the pandemic vary not only from a country to another – depending, among others, on the epidemiological situation – but also among socio-economic groups; under these circumstances, agri-food trade disruption has struck heavily on low- and middle-income countries. We underline the need for a more sustainable and regional model of international trade to overcome the weaknesses of the ‘business as usual’ model and ensure food security for all.

There is a need for transition towards sustainability in agriculture and food systems. New technologies and innovations can play a central role in improving agriculture productivity and sustainability. However, there is still a gap in understanding the factors that determine the acceptance and adoption of technologies in agriculture. Therefore, this review provides an overview on the main models and theories on the acceptance, adoption, use and/or diffusion of technologies. The most prominent theories and models include the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Technology Acceptance Model, the Motivational Model, the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Innovation Diffusion Theory, the Social Cognitive Theory, the Social Construction of Technology, and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. Furthermore, different combinations of these models have been used in technology adoption studies. These conceptual approaches and models span across disciplines (e.g. sociology, psychology, innovation, management) and differ in terms of theoretical assumptions, goals, variables and assessment methods. Factors determining the acceptance and use of technologies in agriculture are related to the technology itself and the ease of its use as well as social (age, gender), emotional, attitudinal and cognitive factors. Technology adoption is also affected by the environment and context in which it takes place. Technology acceptance models make use of predictors that are cognitive or relating to attitude, beliefs or perceptions. Some of the models focus on internal factors, such as antecedents of behaviour (e.g. values, attitudes, intentions), while others also address external issues (e.g. social norms, economic incentives, institutional environment). The framing of technology adoption within the wider Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) offers interesting opportunities for fostering transition towards sustainability in agriculture. Indeed, technologies are just one component of AKIS and innovation in agriculture also encompasses social, organizational, marketing and institutional fields.

Pastoralism is a livelihood system based on extensive production of livestock (e.g. cattle, sheep, goats, camels) mainly on marginal lands. It is a traditional activity in the Mediterranean in general and the Maghreb (viz. Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) in particular. This review casts light on research regarding pastoralism in the Maghreb. In particular, the paper analyses the benefits of pastoralism as well as the challenges faced by pastoralists in the region from the environmental, sociocultural, economic and political points of views. A search performed in July 2020 on the Web of Science yielded 113 documents and 68 of them were included in the systematic review. The analysed literature emphasizes the negative impacts of pastoralism and the challenges faced by pastoral communities in the Maghreb. These include climate change, land degradation and desertification, poverty and livelihood vulnerability as well as the ongoing erosion of pastoral culture and traditions. Doing so, scholars question the future of pastoralism in the region and highlight the need for its adaptation and transformation through, among others, moving towards agro-pastoral systems. There is a dearth of articles that highlight the positive impacts and benefits of pastoralism in the Maghreb. However, the literature shows that pastoralism has a long tradition and is an integral part of the Maghrebi culture and history, and values the traditional knowledge of pastoralists as well as their adaptive capacity. The review shows that there is a gap in research on pastoralism in the Maghreb especially regarding economics. In this context, regional projects such as PACTORES (Pastoral ACTORs, Ecosystem services and Society as key elements of agro-pastoral systems in the Mediterranean) result crucial to bridge the current knowledge gap and foster the sustainable development of pastoralism in the Maghreb and the Mediterranean at large.

Food losses and waste (FLW) is a phenomenon that has been underestimated, littlestudied and poorly documented in the Mediterranean countries. Actually, nopolicies, laws, strategies and action plans have been implemented to reduce FLWin Algeria. This exploratory study aims to evaluate household FW in Algeria. Anonline survey with 323 Algerian households was conducted in February-April 2015to assess the knowledge and relative importance of FW; attitudes towards FW;impacts of behaviors regarding food and food management; FW quantity andvalue; as well as barriers and willingness to behavioral change. Sample is genderbalanced(54% female and 46% male) and rather young (93% are less than 44 yearsold) while most of respondents have high education level. Results show thathousehold planning and shopping activities are significant forecasters of FW.Attitudes may change according to periods especially in Ramadan (88% ofrespondents declare that FW increase during this month) and to the category offood (most wasted product groups are fruits and vegetables, cereals and bakeryproducts). Most of the respondents have a good understanding of “use by” fooddate label while they still confuse the meaning of “best before”. It seems that FW iswidespread in Algeria as only 1% of respondents declare that they do not waste anyfood. About 15% declare that their households throw away at least 250 g of stillconsumable food each week. Even though Algeria is considered as a developingcountry, an important part of food wastage occurs at consumer level as in high andmiddle income countries. In order to reduce food waste, efforts should be directedtowards providing consumers with skills and tools to deal with their food-relatedactivities and to better consider the impact of food waste on the environment andeconomy.

Food waste (FW) is seen as an obstacle to achieving food and nutrition security and food systems sustainability. It is known in literature that households are significant contributors to the total amount of FW. This paper reports on results of an online survey that was conducted from February to April 2015 with a random sample of 281 Tunisian adults. The aim of the survey is to assess the knowledge and relative importance of FW; attitudes towards FW; impacts of behaviors regarding food and food management; quantity and value of FW; as well as barriers and willingness to behavioral change. The sample was not gender-balanced (71.2% female and 28.8% male). The majority of the respondents was young (70.8% aged between 18 and 34 years) and has high education level (95.4% having university and PhD degrees). Food waste is prevalent in Tunisia as about the half of respondents declare that they throw food. The most wasted food products are fruits, vegetables, and cereals and bakery products. Only 42.7% of respondents declared that the economic value of food waste generated each month is more than 6US$. Most of Tunisian respondents have a good understanding of food labels that is probably due to the high education level of the sample. About 37% of respondents throw weekly at least 250 g of still consumable food. To reduce FW in Tunisia it is important to set a strategy at all food chain levels. There is also an urgent need to raise people’s and organizations awareness towards this problem. This article provides a basis for the development of other more context specific investigations and interventions for the prevention of household FW in Tunisia.

One of the biggest challenges facing humanity is achieving sustainable food security in the face of population growth, resource scarcity, ecosystem degradation and climate change. Transitioning towards sustainable food systems (SFS) is a must for achieving sustainable development. This review paper highlights the need to adopt a holistic, multidimensional, interdisciplinary and systemic approach for better understanding food systems, which is a prerequisite for fostering transition towards sustainability. A better understanding of food systems means comprehending issues at play from ‘farm to fork’ i.e. production (crop, animal, seafood), processing, trade and distribution, and consumption. For gaining a full awareness also cross-cutting issues such as gender, innovation and technology should be considered. Such a deep knowledge and consequent corrective actions are crucial to address the multiple challenges and dysfunctions of the current global food system such as food insecurity, obesity, food waste, climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, water depletion, deforestation, market concentration and food heritage erosion. It is fundamental to foster transition towards sustainable and resilient food systems to achieve sustainable food and nutrition security for present and future generations. All dimensions (environment, economy, society and culture, nutrition and health) of food sustainability should be tackled while considering policy and governance. Different food consumption and production models can help speeding up journey towards sustainability. These include, inter alia, organic agriculture and different alternative food systems allowing to link consumption and production such as urban agriculture, community-supported agriculture and short food chains. While the challenge is titanic, there is a menu of options that can be jointly used to foster shift towards SFS such as sustainable and eco-functional intensification, sustainable diets, food loss and waste reduction. Nevertheless, a holistic and systemic approach is necessary to develop a systems thinking for generating interdisciplinary knowledge needed to support transition towards sustainable food systems.