Researching Business Models for Building Sustainable Agriculture

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Abstract
Business models are increasingly recognized as key architectures that may help coordinate technological, organizational, social, and territorial innovations in sustainable agriculture. This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of 325 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (2002–2026) to map the epistemic, conceptual, and intellectual structure of research on business models for building sustainable agriculture. Using Price’s, Lotka’s, Bradford’s, and Zipf’s laws, along with co-citation analysis, the study examines temporal growth, author productivity, journal concentration, thematic clusters, and foundational literature. Results suggest exponential growth in scientific production, strong alignment with SDGs related to food security, circular economy, climate action, and biodiversity, and a highly concentrated intellectual core centered on business model design, sustainability transitions, and digital transformation. Four thematic clusters emerge: innovation and agricultural systems; management, governance, and business models; sustainability and climate-energy dynamics; and challenges, assessment, and ecosystem services. Co-citation analysis reveals three major axes shaping the field: strategic business model design, circular and sustainable value creation, and digital and territorial transformation of agri-food systems. Overall, the findings suggest that sustainable agriculture may benefit from hybrid business models integrating technological innovation, circularity, governance, and multi-actor collaboration.

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