Exploring Community-Supported Agriculture through Maslow’s Hierarchy: A Systematic Review of Research Themes and Trends

Xiaofan Tian, Ruifang Zhang, Zifan Wang, Xinna Kang and Zhixin Yang ()
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Xiaofan Tian: National Engineering Research Center for Agriculture in Northern Mountainous Areas, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071001, China
Ruifang Zhang: College of Land and Resources, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071001, China
Zifan Wang: Shijiazhuang Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050041, China
Xinna Kang: Shijiazhuang Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050041, China
Zhixin Yang: College of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071001, China

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: Community-supported agriculture (CSA) has emerged as a pivotal model for sustainable and humanistic agricultural practices, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between food production, consumption, and sustainable ecosystems. Despite the growing interest, a comprehensive analysis of research themes and trends within the CSA framework remains sparse. This paper undertakes a systematic review of CSA literature from 1999 to 2023, identifying evolving research hotspots, dominant themes, and prospective directions by keyword analysis to corroborate Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. The research analysis location is categorized into four temporal phases, revealing a geographical expansion from North America to encompass Asia, Africa, and other continents. This expansion corroborates Maslow’s theory, illustrating a global shift from fulfilling basic physiological needs towards recognizing sustainable practices, particularly in developing regions. The results of temporal trends (5 phases) and the hotspots of keyword analysis support each other by showing a societal shift from basic sustenance to a deeper understanding of nutrition and diet. Most of the recent research keywords are grouped into the “environment” and “health and education” categories, indicating an increasing emphasis on transforming the food system and nutrition education. This review suggests conducting an integrated analysis that links the various stages of the food supply chain with the criteria outlined in the Sustainable Agriculture Matrix (SAM). It highlights that the “environment” theme is a stage of building up esteem and self-realization that needs to be unfolded in the future, given that most research on community-supported agriculture (CSA) focuses on the “economy and society” aspect and consumption stage, which burnish self-morality in the theory of Maslow. Overall, this review proposes an analysis of the relevance among different subject categories and between food supply chain stages, which reveals that the trend of research under CSA development is accorded to the theory of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and calls for a more holistic approach to agricultural research that considers ecological, health, and social imperatives.

Keywords: keywords analysis; food system; sustainable development goals; Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; alternative food network (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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