New technologies are playing a fundamental role in the postmodern era of globalization where interpersonal interactions at the international level and the exchange of goods, services, information and capital are the basis of all activities. The agriculture sector is constantly facing numerous challenges including the steady growth of the population, climate change, the increasing number of catastrophes, the loss of biodiversity and the spread of parasites. This paper analyzes the impacts of Blockchain applications in agriculture and the food supply chain, through a survey literature review, providing the various players in the agriculture value chain with new tools and key technologies to improve production and distribution processes. To demonstrate the importance of applying the Blockchain in the agriculture sector, especially for emerging countries, the case of South Africa is examined. This focus is one of the unique aspects of this paper, which is the first to deal with this kind of solution applied to the South African context. Our findings indicate that Blockchain, in the e-agricultural context, has the potential for reshaping the entire sector, contributing also to the resolution of the food crisis. This paper discusses the overall implications, limits, challenges and potentials of these applications, from a critical point of view.

 This paper presents a brief literature review of previous studies methodologies, models, and contexts in studying firms’ upgrading in Global Value Chains (GVCs). The key context of this paper is set within Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Through the literature review, this paper offers to identify the opportunities of theoretical novelty and ways to elaborate on understanding firm dynamics in Global Value Chains in the context of 4IR. The approach based on Business Model (BM) innovations and new forms of organizing for business (such as platforms) is used to synthesize from previous research findings and build on to newer explanations of firms’ entry, learning, and upgrading within GVCs.

Blockchain technology, born as a tool to support Bitcoins (the most popular and controversial cryptocurrency in the world) has set itself in a very short time as a disruptive technology able not only to revolutionize existing businesses but also to create new ones. This work illustrates the main characteristics of the blockchain and its functioning, and then focuses on the potential applications that can be implemented for developing countries. More specifically, the work, considers the case of financial inclusion in Africa, on the basis of the Global Findex 2017 data, the World Bank Survey on financial inclusion. The empirical analysis identifies the weaknesses in the current financial system in Africa and constitues the basis to discuss potential blockchain solutions to reduce the current level of financial exclusion and pursue sustainable development for African countries.

New technologies are playing a fundamental role in the postmodern era of globalization where interpersonal interactions at the international level and the exchange of goods, services, information and capital are the basis of all activities.The agriculture sector is constantly facing numerous challenges including the steady growth of the population, climate change, the increasing number of catastrophes, the loss of biodiversity and the spread of parasites.New technology applications such as Blockchain, Internet of things (IoT), drones, Big Data and artificial intelligence can provide the various players in the agriculture value chain with new tools and key technologies to improve production and distribution processes.To demonstrate the importance of applying the Blockchain in the agriculture sector, the case of the AgriDigital platform will be examined.AgriDigital is a cloud-based raw materials management platform that has started the implementation of the Blockchain in agricultural supply chains.

Through an overview of developments in finance and in the energy sector, this work represents an analysis of the relationship of their trends. It is carried out through an interdisciplinary approach. From the original physical currency to electronic payment methods, digital currency is becoming a new concept. It’s still a fiat money which is only as good as the organization that issues it. Because Bitcoin is not issued by any central bank, there is no centralized management of the country; there is a great risk of losing control. Finance is not entirely a virtual economy. So, currency development trends must return to intrinsic value. There is the possibility for the energy currency also for its stability. As an energy currency, it is not necessary to print, not to apply the exchange rate, no corresponding pollution, and even better it will help to alleviate the existing environmental problem facing the challenges of global environmental degradation. The international unit of energy can be seen as the unit of energy money because of its intrinsic value. As stated by Scott, there are good reasons to consider energy as a potential currency. If the future integrates energy into the financial system and becomes a means of payment, it will not only eliminate the risk of currency depreciation, but also optimize energy saving and use to achieve environmental protection. The emphasis is given to the integration of the financial sector with the energy one. The aim is to develop a parametric numerical model able to foresee the possibility of combining finance and energy, allowing a sustainable development. This allows us to analyze the pros and cons of the existing energy cryptocurrencies. The last step consists in identifying the main characteristics that this cryptocurrency must have in order to achieve the desired results.

Through an overview of recent developments in finance and in the energy sector, this work represents an analysis of the relationship of their development trends.This study is carried out through an interdisciplinary approach and we decided to prefer the observational research method in order to expand the people's perceptual knowledge in inspiring their thoughts and discovering new ways of development for finance and energy.From the original physical currency to banknotes then to electronic payment methods with the development of the internet economy, internet financial digital currency is becoming a new concept.Bitcoin was born in 2008 and since 2012 the Bitcoin's raised monetary value has allowed people to remember two major financial crises recently.It's still a fiat money (without intrinsic value) which is only as good as the Organization that issues it.Included but not limited to whether the entity is defaulting, the currency will become worthless.Because Bitcoin is not issued by any central bank, but by the information service provider which exists outside the monetary system, there is no centralized management of the country, and there is a great risk of losing control.Finance is not entirely a virtual economy.So ultimately, currency development trends must return to intrinsic value.For the foregoing, there is the possibility for the energy currency, not only for its uniform measurement but also for its good stability characteristics.As an energy currency, it is not necessary to print, not to apply the exchange rate, no corresponding pollution, and even better it will help to alleviate the environmental problem in the current phase and in a practical and effective way to face the challenges of global environmental degradation.The international unit of energy is joule and we can consider it as the unit of energy money because of energy and its intrinsic value.As stated by Brett Scott, there are good reasons to consider energy as a potential currency.If the future integrates energy into the financial system and becomes a means of payment, it will not only eliminate the risk of currency depreciation through a global unified measurement unit, unimpeded flow and easily exchange as a general equivalent, but also optimize energy saving and use to achieve the protection of environment and to realize the original nature of human return to nature.The emphasis is given to the possibility of integration of the financial sector with the energy one, a theme that can be framed between economics and science/technology or their combination.The aim of this research is to develop a parametric numerical model able to foresee the possibility of combining finance and energy, allowing for both a sustainable development.This will be realized by reviewing all different approaches to the subject and all the solutions created.This will allow us to analyze the pros and cons of all the existing cryptocurrencies related to energy sector.The last step of this analysis consists in identifying the main characteristics that this cryptocurrency must have in order to achieve the desired results.