Focus and Scope

FOCUS
Journal of Agriculture and Local Food (JALF) is a double-blind peer-reviewed international scientific journal dedicated to the critical and solution-oriented study of contemporary food systems, with a particular emphasis on agroecological transitions and the strengthening of local food systems.

JALF serves as a scholarly bridge between conventional agricultural practices and the urgent global demand for ecologically just and resilient food security. Adopting a comprehensive food systems approach, the journal prioritizes research that is not merely diagnostic but explicitly transformative. It examines how local knowledge, farmer-led innovation, and cross-sectoral policies can synergize to create multifunctional agricultural landscapes that are climate-resilient, biodiversity-rich, and socio-economically sovereign.

SCOPE
The journal welcomes conceptual articles and empirical research employing robust methodologies (quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, and participatory) that explicitly fall within the following thematic areas:

  1. Agroecological Transitions and Alternative Production Systems
    This area covers the development and evaluation of organic farming, low-external-input agriculture, permaculture, and other innovative practices grounded in ecological principles. It emphasizes farm-based, participatory research aimed at enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services within agricultural systems.

  2. Food Security, Food Sovereignty, and Local Food Systems
    This scope encompasses full-spectrum food system analysis—from production, distribution, and consumption to food loss and waste. It focuses on local food as a strategic solution to food security challenges. Topics include short food supply chains, farmer markets, institutional food procurement, and the resilience of indigenous food systems against global dietary homogenization.

  3. Multifunctional Landscapes, Conservation, and Ecosystem Services
    This theme explores the role of agricultural landscapes beyond production, including carbon sequestration, water regulation, and pollinator habitat provision. Studies on cultural landscapes, agrobiodiversity conservation, and the integration of conservation goals within local farming practices are particularly encouraged.

  4. Socio-Economic Dimensions and Philosophy of Sustainable Agriculture
    This area includes ecological economics, the financial viability of smallholder farming, farmer institutions and cooperatives, agrarian philosophy, food justice, and gender equity in access to agrarian resources. It addresses the ethical and societal dimensions of food production and consumption.

  5. Agriculture, Climate Change, and Future-Oriented Policy
    This scope invites research on the impacts of and adaptation to climate change within local food networks, food security modeling and projections, policy analysis, and the development of sustainability and resilience indicators. Studies on community-based mitigation strategies and evaluations of national or international food and agricultural policies are welcome.

  6. Participatory Methodologies and Integrated Food System Research
    JALF specifically encourages publications utilizing Participatory Action Research (PAR), household vulnerability assessments, transdisciplinary approaches, and integrated frameworks linking agriculture, nutrition, public health, and urban/regional food policy.