Balancing Objectivity and Subjectivity in Agricultural Funding: The Case of AKIS Measures

Naomi di Santo, Roberta Sisto (), Vittoria Dragone and Vincenzo Fucilli
Additional contact information
Naomi di Santo: Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70121 Bari, Italy
Roberta Sisto: Department of Social Sciences, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy
Vittoria Dragone: Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70121 Bari, Italy
Vincenzo Fucilli: Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70121 Bari, Italy

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-26

Abstract: The agri-food system is faced with numerous challenges of sustainability, calling for the improved evaluation of rural development projects. However, a gap exists in the comprehension of the application of both objective and subjective indicators in project selection criteria among regions. This study aims to bridge this gap by exploring, in detail, the nature and utilization of objective and subjective indicators in the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) environment in Italy. The approach entails the analysis of documents, with a focus on data relating to the AKIS initiative across regions. The comparative approach is also used to establish the priority that regions assign to indicators. The results include the use of both objective indicators, such as the number of sectors covered, and subjective ones, such as innovation and responsiveness to local needs. Besides, the comparative approach emphasizes the complexity of the AKIS initiative, with some domains tending toward objective indicators, while others tend toward subjective indicators. The study contributes to the development of a composite framework for evaluating rural development projects and emphasizes the need for further research to develop evaluation methodologies further, so that future frameworks will be standardized as well as sensitive to regional heterogeneity.

Keywords: content analysis; Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System; AKIS; evaluation; resource allocation (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/2071-1050/17/10/4730/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4730/ (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:10:p:4730-:d:1660971

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 ().