Academic Landscape Review: Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics

AI Query: Create a systematic literature map covering 1950–2026. I can compile approximately 30–50 of the most relevant books or journals, categorize them into the 17 sub-fields mentioned earlier, and construct an "Existing / Partially Existing / Non-existent" matrix. This will allow us to objectively assess the novelty of "Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics" relative to the global body of literature.

AI Response:

Understood. I will conduct an exploratory systematic literature mapping for the 1950–2026 period. The focus will not merely be on searching for the exact phrase "Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics," but on exploring the entire body of literature that substantively constitutes the components of Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics (SEPI): agricultural economics, agrarian studies, finance, labor, gender, food systems, agribusiness, cooperatives, extension services, farm families, and so forth.

Important methodological note: This is a systematic exploratory map based on verifiable web/bibliographic searches, rather than a bibliometric systematic review based on Scopus or Web of Science exports. Consequently, I am using three status categories: EXISTING = the field already possesses clearly defined, specialized literature; PARTIAL = literature exists but is sporadic or fragmented; NON-EXISTENT = it has not yet emerged as an established sub-field with an explicit Islamic designation or framework. The search covers the period up to October 2026.

Key conclusion first:

I have not found a single work prior to 2025 that establishes "Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics" as an overarching discipline integrating all 17 of these fields. Instead, there are dozens of works scattered across the individual branches. The Al-Muzara'ah journal now explicitly encompasses Islamic economics, finance, microfinance, management, agriculture and the environment, social finance, poverty alleviation, and more—yet it remains a collection of fields rather than a single discipline of "Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics." (IPB Journal). Meanwhile, the Sharia Agribusiness Journal specifically integrates agricultural management, economics, technology, social aspects, halal food, and empowerment through Islamic institutions; however, its focus remains on sharia agribusiness rather than socioeconomics as an overarching discipline. (UIN Jakarta Journal)

Furthermore, Syahyuti’s 2025 book explicitly organizes these 17 concepts and positions "Islamic Agricultural Socio-Economics" as the overarching concept. (www.slideshare.net)

Core matrix: 17 sub-fields of Islamic Agricultural Socio-Economics

No.	Subfield	Specific Islamic Literature	Status	SEPI Novelty
1	Islamic Agrarian Reform	Exists, but very limited	PARTIAL	★★★★★
2	Islamic Organic Agriculture	Exists and is beginning to grow	PARTIAL	★★★★
3	Islamic Agricultural Financing	Relatively extensive	ESTABLISHED	★★
4	Islamic Agricultural Labour System	Very limited	NOT YET / PARTIAL	★★★★★
5	Islamic Agricultural Gender	Very limited	NOT YET	★★★★★
6	Islamic Supply Chain	Extensive, particularly halal supply chain	ESTABLISHED / PARTIAL	★★★
7	Islamic Food Security	Relatively well developed	ESTABLISHED	★★★
8	Islamic Food Economy	Exists, but scattered	PARTIAL	★★★★
9	Islamic Food System	Beginning to develop	PARTIAL	★★★★
10	Islamic Agricultural Extension	Very limited	NOT YET	★★★★★
11	Islamic Family Farming	Hardly visible as a distinct subfield	NOT YET	★★★★★
12	Islamic Food Sovereignty	Exists, but limited	PARTIAL	★★★★★
13	Islamic Agribusiness	A dedicated journal already exists	ESTABLISHED	★★
14	Islamic Cooperative	Exists, but predominantly focused on Islamic cooperatives/sharia finance	PARTIAL	★★★★
15	Islamic Agricultural Economics	Exists	ESTABLISHED / PARTIAL	★★★
16	Islamic Agriculture	Already established	ESTABLISHED	★★
17	Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics (SEPI)	Not identified as an established discipline before 2025	NOT YET	★★★★★

Note: SEPI = Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics.

The novelty is: there is no visible integration of all social, economic, institutional, agrarian, labor, food, business, financing and agricultural empowerment dimensions into one discipline called Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics.

From the map of the 40 closest literatures, with variants: "Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics", "Islamic Agricultural Socio-Economics", "Islamic Agriculture Socioeconomics", "Islamic agricultural socio-economic", and "Islamic agricultural sociology and economics"; The results that emerge most explicitly and consistently are Syahyuti's own work, namely:

Syahyuti (2020) - Islamic Farming and Trading — Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomic Book Series. In 2020, Syahyuti explicitly stated that he had not found the term "Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics" in a Google search and then introduced "Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics" as an idea that needed to be formed. (VILLAGE AGRICULTURE CONCEPT)

Syahyuti (2025) - Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics: Concept, Urgency and Practice in the World, IPB Press, 2025, 270 + xxii pages, ISBN 978-623-111-749-6. (www.slideshare.net). This book explicitly contains 17 concepts.

Of the 17 subfields, I divided them into 4 groups

Group A — is relatively mature (Islamic Agricultural Financing, Islamic Agriculture, Islamic Agribusiness, Islamic Food Security, and Halal/Islamic Supply Chain). Novelty low–medium.

Group B — is growing (Islamic Agricultural Economics, Islamic Organic Agriculture, Islamic Food Economy, Islamic Food System, Islamic Cooperative, and Islamic Food Sovereignty). Medium–high novelty.

Group C — very open (Islamic Agrarian Reform, Islamic Agricultural Labor System, Islamic Agricultural Gender, Islamic Agricultural Extension, high Novelty).

Group D — almost a white space (Islamic Family Farming, and Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics as umbrella disciplines). Novelty is very high.

So, how big is the social and economic novelty of Islamic agriculture?

I will make an assessment not based on the number of publications, but based on whether the concepts + terminology + theoretical framework + subdisciplines + curriculum + journals + textbooks are available.

 

Dimension	Status up to 2026
Islamic Literature on Agriculture	Extensive
Islamic Agricultural Economics	Exists
Islamic Agribusiness	Exists
Islamic Agricultural Finance	Relatively mature
Islamic Food Economy/System	Developing
Islamic Agrarian Studies	Exists, but fragmented
Islamic Agricultural Sociology	Very limited
Islamic Agricultural Labour	Fragmented
Islamic Agricultural Extension	Very limited
Islamic Family Farming	Almost absent
Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics (SEPI)	Not yet established
Dedicated SEPI Textbook	Syahyuti, 2025
Framework of 17 Subdisciplines	Syahyuti, 2025
Dedicated Journal: “Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics”	Not yet identified
Dedicated Academic Program	Not yet identified
Dedicated Conference	Not yet identified
Dedicated International Scholarly Community	Not yet visible

 

So, regarding the safest claim of novelty: After this mapping exercise, I feel more confident yet also more cautious about the previous claim.

I would not suggest stating: “Syahyuti discovered the field of Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics.” That is too absolute.

Instead, I propose a scientific formulation:

“Based on a systematic exploratory literature mapping covering the period 1950–2026, Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics does not yet appear to have developed into an established academic discipline—whether in terms of terminology, theoretical frameworks, sub-disciplinary structures, specialized journals, or educational programs. The available literature remains fragmented across areas such as Islamic agricultural economics, Islamic agribusiness, Sharia-compliant agricultural finance, Islamic food systems, Islamic social finance, Islamic agrarian studies, and other related fields. In this context, Syahyuti’s (2025) monograph can be positioned as one of the earliest and most comprehensive attempts to formulate Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics as an integrative field of study.”

In my view, that is academically far more robust than a claim of being “first in the world.”

The primary novelty lies in the relational architecture among those 17 fields: Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics is not merely “Islamic Agriculture + Islamic Economics,” but a discipline that explains the reciprocal relationships among social actors, economic structures, institutions, Islamic norms, agrarian resources, production, distribution, consumption, and well-being within the agricultural system.

In other words: Islamic Agriculture primarily addresses the question, “What does agriculture that aligns with Islam look like?” Islamic Agricultural Economics addresses, “How is the agricultural economy viewed through an Islamic lens?” Islamic Agribusiness addresses, “How is agricultural business conducted in accordance with Sharia?”

However, Islamic Agricultural Socioeconomics must answer: “How do society, the economy, institutions, power dynamics, norms, resources, and Islamic values ​​collectively shape the agricultural system?” That is the most significant epistemological gap I have identified through this mapping. At the same time, this makes the field highly compatible with the tradition of agricultural socio-economics that has developed in Indonesia over the decades, yet imbues it with an Islamic worldview, ontology, epistemology, values, and institutional logic.
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