Department 4 – Agrofood and natural resource economics

Research in this area focuses on two interrelated sociological aspects: agrofood economics and natural resource economics. The objective of the former is the economic study of the agrofood chain: from farming production and its industrial transformation to food consumption. Research in agrofood economics aims to provide assistance and support to all agents in the agrofood chain in their task of producing and supplying a sufficient quantity of safe and healthy foods that meet the quality standards demanded by consumers. Its objective is to perfect a procedure that can manage resources efficiently while promoting economic growth along with sustainable development. Natural resource economics, on the other hand, is a branch that aims to provide answers to issues related with society’s use of available natural resources to satisfy the economic system’s multiple demands, taking into account the great number of complex interactions between society, the environment and natural resources. In this context IA2 proposes two general lines of research in the area of Agrofood Economics and Natural Resource Economics, addressing all relevant issues mentioned above.

This area of research is coordinated by Azucena Gracia, PhD, the Head of Department 4, which comprises a total of 35 members pertaining to 6 different research groups.

This area includes 2 lines of research with 5 sub-lines of research and a total of 15 specific actions.