The Agricultural Regeneration of Salento (Apulia, Italy) After the Xylella fastidiosa Crisis: Managing the Shocks Through Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods

Benedetta Coluccia, Vittoria Tunno () and Giulio Paolo Agnusdei
Additional contact information
Benedetta Coluccia: Department of Management and Economics, Pegaso University, Centro Direzionale Isola F2, 80143 Naples, NA, Italy
Vittoria Tunno: Department of Architecture and Industrial Design, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 81031 Aversa, CE, Italy
Giulio Paolo Agnusdei: Department of Psychology and Health Sciences, Pegaso University, Centro Direzionale Isola F2, 80143 Naples, NA, Italy

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-21

Abstract: In recent years, agriculture has increasingly faced shocks related to climate change, pathogen outbreaks, and geopolitical instability, highlighting the need for sustainable regeneration strategies. This study develops an innovative Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework that integrates the Delphi method, the Analytic Network Process (ANP), and the Aggregated Decision-Making (ADAM) method—the first application of this combination in the context of agricultural regeneration. The framework was applied to the Apulia region (Italy), heavily affected by the Xylella fastidiosa epidemic, and evaluated alternative crops across 30 economic, environmental, and socio-cultural sub-criteria. Results indicate that carob, walnut, and pistachio outperform other options by combining strong economic viability, climate resilience, and cultural compatibility. To mitigate the risks of monoculture, crop diversification strategies based on high-ranked alternatives are recommended. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of results, and the framework demonstrates high scalability, offering a transparent tool for policymakers in regions facing similar agricultural crises.

Keywords: agricultural regeneration; Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM); investment prioritization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8812/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8812/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8812-:d:1762847

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().