High-value Agriculture for Rural Transformation: Practices, Impacts, and Policy Implications

Introduction

High-value agriculture (HVA) is the cultivation and production of agricultural products that generate significantly higher economic returns than traditional staple crops like maize, rice, and wheat. HVA typically includes products that are in high demand due to their market value, nutritional attributes, or export potential, including, for instance, specialized crops (e.g., avocados, berries, tea, tobacco, and leafy greens), edible fungi (e.g., mushrooms and truffles), livestock products (e.g., dairy, poultry, and meat), and aquaculture (e.g., shrimp and fish). By integrating market-oriented approaches with sustainability principles, HVA has the potential to transform traditional agriculture into a more profitable and environmentally sustainable enterprise. Furthermore, HVA is increasingly seen as a transformative approach to tackling global food system challenges, including climate change, resource limitations, and socioeconomic disparities. Research shows that HVA increases farm incomes, creates rural employment opportunities, optimizes resource utilization, enhances food and nutrition security, and empowers marginalized groups. As a result, the shift toward HVA is increasingly recognized as a cornerstone for rural transformation and sustainable development.

Although HVA offers substantial benefits, the production of certain high-value products can have adverse effects on resource use and the environment due to their intensive management, input requirements, and infrastructure demands. For instance, avocados are highly water-intensive, and their rising demand and production have been linked to water shortages in some growing regions. Similarly, shrimp farming poses significant environmental challenges, notably contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide, a key driver of global warming. Besides, allocating additional land to HVA could reduce the land available for grain production, potentially jeopardizing food security. To address these concerns, research should focus on developing strategies to mitigate the environmental impacts of producing specific high-value products, such as avocados and shrimp, while also tackling the associated food security challenges. A comprehensive understanding of these issues is essential to guide the development of effective policies and sustainable practices.

This special issue seeks to advance scholarly and policy-oriented discussions on HVA as a vehicle for rural transformation. It will explore the practices, impacts, and policy implications of HVA, particularly in Asian countries while drawing lessons from global experiences. The findings from this special issue are expected to provide critical insights to guide policymakers in designing effective policies and instruments to promote HVA, assist stakeholders in identifying scalable and sustainable HVA practices for rural transformation, and enhance academic and practical understanding of HVA's role in addressing food security, rural poverty, and environmental challenges.

List of topic areas

• Barriers and drivers of transiting to HVA;
• Challenges and opportunities of realizing the commercialization of HVA;
• Efficient use of production inputs (e.g., water, fertilizers, and pesticides) in HVA;
• Practices and (social, economic, or environmental) impacts of HVA;
• Farmers' participation in domestic and international value/supply chains of HVA (e.g., barriers, drivers, and outcomes);
• Structural changes in high-value markets and rural poverty, (in)equality, and sustainability;
• HVA for sustainable agriculture and food system transformation;
• HVA and rural industrial upgrading (e.g., agricultural product processing and agricultural product marketing);
• HVA and farmers' well-being (e.g., income, consumption, resilience, health, and subjective well-being);
• Strategies and practices to mitigate the negative impacts of HVA (e.g., carbon emission and overuse of agrichemicals);
• Trade-offs between HVA and staple foods;
• Gender and HVA.

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/caer

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see:   https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/caer

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key deadlines

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 30/06/2025    
Email for submissions: [email protected]