The 5th International Conference on Modern Management based on Big Data (MMBD2024)

Abstract: Sustainable Assessment Tools (SATs) are generally designed for medium and large enterprises with structured and available information, while small producers are generally excluded from the evaluation process. The present work fills this gap by analysing how new technologies, such as SATs developed using mobile applications (apps), can promote the sustainability management of small agri-producers in Ecuador. In this regard, the SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture) App is the first SAT specifically designed to evaluate sustainability for small and micro-producers. To operationalise the process, it implements a one hundred-item questionnaire. To answer the questions, the interviewee does not need to review documents. Considering that interviews may be held in areas with no internet service, the answers are processed using an offline mobile application that registers the data immediately. The results show that the good governance is the dimension that achieves the best result and associations are key drivers for the development of sustainable practices. Additionally, this study highlights that SAFA App is useful in catching the specific features of small producers. However, this SAT should be improved in terms of its versatility and the depth of its analysis in order to be taken as a benchmark for sustainability policies.
Keywords: small producers, sustainable development, natural resource management systems, SAFA App, agriculture, rural.

Biography: Laura Piedra-Muñoz (female) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and Business and Vice-Dean in the Faculty of Economics and Business Sciences at the University of Almería (Agrifood Campus of International Excellence, ceiA3) in Spain. She is also a member of the Mediterranean Research Center on Economics and Sustainable Development (CIMEDES). She received her BS in Economics and Business Sciences in 1999 and PhD in Economics in 2005 from the University of Almería. Visiting lecturer at Georgia State University (USA) in 2006. She has almost 22 years of experience in studies on environmental economics, sustainable development, management and agri-food systems. She has participated in 16 R&D projects and contracts, with national and international companies and institutions. She has published 35 scientific articles in international journals, 22 with relative impact factor in the Journal Citation Report (JCR), 9 in quartile 1. Additionally, she has published 5 books and 19 chapters in national and international books; she has more than 50 contributions to conferences, most of them international; and she has been a member of the Scientific Committees of 12 international conferences. She has supervised three doctoral thesis and is currently directing other five ones. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Migration Studies (RIEM) since 2013; Guest Editor of a Special Issue in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020; and a reviewer in several JCR journals.
Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Laura-Piedra-Munoz
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5281-698X; Scopus Author ID: 55295864500.