This study develops a dual-dimensional framework integrating development capacity and ecological function importance to assess ecological product value realization suitability across 76 cities in the Yellow River Basin. Using multi-source data and the CRITIC weighting method, we identified four suitability zones: suitable (25.02%), marginally suitable (6.11%), marginally unsuitable (38.59%), and unsuitable (30.28%). The basin generated an estimated USD 2.15 billion in ecological product value in 2020. We propose differentiated pathways, including ecologically safeguarded green industrial transformation in suitable zones, ecological restoration in marginally suitable zones, protection-oriented management in marginally unsuitable zones, and compensation mechanisms in unsuitable zones. Here, ‘suitable’ denotes conditional opportunity for low-impact value-realization instruments under ecological safeguards, not permission for unconstrained development. The framework links ecological-product accounting with spatial planning while acknowledging that social, cultural, and governance dimensions require complementary assessment.
Sustainable transformation of agri-food systems has become increasingly important as environmental pressures intensify, resource availability declines, and global food demand rises. This study presents a structured review of sustainable business models in agri-food systems, examining their contributions to environmental performance, economic resilience, and sustainability trade-offs. Approximately 60 academic publications published between 2010 and 2024 were analyzed to evaluate theoretical foundations, sectoral applications, and enabling mechanisms, including digitalization, circular economy practices, and governance frameworks. Unlike previous studies focused on specific sustainability practices or sectors, this review provides an integrated assessment of environmental performance, economic resilience, and sustainability trade-offs within sustainable agri-food business models. The findings indicate that sustainable business models integrate ecological considerations into value creation, improve resource efficiency, and strengthen resilience across sectors such as aquaculture, dairy, and wine production. Sustainability outcomes are shaped by tensions among economic growth, ecological limits, and social equity, resulting in uneven and context-dependent outcomes. Digitalization and circular economy approaches create opportunities for innovation, resource optimization, and value recovery, but also introduce challenges related to energy consumption, data governance, unequal access, and implementation costs. Stakeholder engagement, performance measurement, and supportive institutions emerge as critical drivers of sustainability transitions. Thus, sustainable business models can enhance environmental performance and economic resilience, although their effectiveness depends on governance quality, equitable access to innovation, and the management of environmental, economic, and social trade-offs.
This study defines environmental tax as a flexible policy instrument that promotes the green and efficient transformation of agricultural production and enhances agricultural innovation productivity; in line with China’s institutional context, it is continuously measured using pollution discharge fees before 2018 and Environmental Protection Tax revenue after the implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law in 2018. This paper uses panel data from 30 provinces in China to empirically test the magnitude, direction, and mechanism of environmental taxes on the development of agricultural innovation productivity using a two-way fixed effects model, heterogeneity test model, mediation effect model, moderation effect model, and threshold effect model. The study finds that environmental taxes can significantly promote the development of agricultural innovation productivity. Furthermore, by analyzing geographical locations and functional Positioning of Agricultural Production, it is found that environmental taxes exhibit differentiated characteristics in driving agricultural innovation productivity; Mediation effect tests revealed that environmental taxes promote agricultural innovation productivity by suppressing agricultural carbon emissions; moderation effect tests showed that agricultural industrial structure upgrading plays a positive moderating role in the promotion of agricultural innovation productivity by environmental taxes; The threshold analysis identifies a single carbon-emission threshold: when agricultural carbon emissions exceed the threshold, the productivity-enhancing effect of environmental tax becomes stronger. Heterogeneity tests further show that the effect is most evident in central China and major grain-producing areas, while the western region faces stronger compliance-cost pressure. The study contributes by integrating the compliance-cost, Porter-hypothesis, and nonlinear-threshold perspectives into one agricultural setting and by clarifying the policy boundary under which environmental taxation can foster agricultural innovation productivity.
The Sahel is a strip of land that begins in Mauritania and ends in Eritrea. It is approximately 5400 km long and varies in width from 100 to 1000 km. Based on different historical perspectives, the Sahel can be considered to encompass a total of five countries. Subsequently, other countries have been added that, due to their geographical and climatic characteristics, can be considered Sahelian. The Sahelian countries emerged after 1960, the year in which decolonization began, but also the instability that was initially triggered by military coups aimed at destabilizing power. Later, climatic instability, famine, political instability, terrorism, and other factors have also played a role. This essay focuses on analyzing the actions and current activities of certain actors in the Sahel.
