Cooperatives are societies of people who together seek to carry out actions that would be costly to carry out individually. These organizations have their own legal form and nature that, among other characteristics, involves voluntary adhesion, shares in the capital being inaccessible to third parties, one member one vote, and return of net surpluses from activities proportional to the operations carried out by the partners. Research that involves the topic of cooperatives covers a broad spectrum of possibilities, including cooperativist identity, legal aspects, cooperativist education, governance in cooperatives, social management of cooperatives, innovation and performance, strategy, finance, organization of the social framework, inter-cooperation and analysis of their social, economic, and environmental impact.

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The articles can cover various aspects related to technology and innovation in agriculture: the impact of new technologies (4.0, IoT, etc.) in agricultural management and productivity; the adoption of new sustainable technologies in agriculture (low carbon agriculture, recovery agriculture, etc.); policies for incentivizing the adoption of technologies in rural areas (credit, taxation); networks for research and innovation in agriculture; and systems for disseminating technology in agriculture (cooperatives, public agencies, input companies, etc.).

The debates on the sustainability of agro-industrial systems are broad and involve a continuous creative effort. Thus, the description of the session should not be understood as limiting the proposition of articles with innovative approaches to the topic. The articles will discuss topics related to the design of value chains and sustainable networks – for example, based on the principles of the circular economy – and strategies focusing on resolving environmental or social challenges. Possible topics to be discussed include reducing food waste and mitigating carbon emissions. Another possibility is the discussion of frameworks for creating value derived from the adoption of strategies based on the search for sustainability. Finally, the texts can discuss the process of the emergence and consolidation of alternative food production and distribution systems.

The articles should cover topics related to strategy and competitiveness, within the context of agro-industrial chains. Articles will be accepted that address the problem of competitiveness and performance through the lenses of strategy theories – positioning, resource theory, dynamic capacities, transaction costs. The topic also includes studies that relate to competitiveness from the viewpoint of the systemic and relationship approaches, cooperation networks and strategic alliances that analyze interdependence relationships between agents, as well as marketing strategies. The topic also covers studies that discuss the implications of macro-institutional aspects in agro-industrial chains.

The articles can cover various aspects related to risk management and commercialization in different agroindustry chains, including the following topics: forecasting, transmission, and volatility of prices; price risk management tools; production risk management tools; risk and resilience; behavioral and experimental economics in risk management and commercialization decisions; market structure and price behavior; designing policies related to risk management and commercialization.

The articles can cover various aspects related to public management in agriculture: design and evaluation of policies (credit, commercialization, prices, technical assistance, technology, food security, labor relations, environmental legislation, etc.) that affect agriculture; the role of public management in transforming agriculture; evaluating new policy and management concepts; and the impacts of efficiency, competitiveness, and sustainability.