SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

Moller, Henrik; Centre for Sustainability (CSAFE), University of Otago, New Zealand; ecosyst@ihug.co.nz; Noe, Egon; Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark; egon.noe@agro.au.dk.

The focus of the Special Feature on “Multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability” is on the complex challenges of making and communicating overall assessments of food systems sustainability based on multiple and varied criteria. Four papers concern the choice and development of appropriate tools for making multicriteria sustainability assessments that handle built-in methodological conflicts and trade-offs between different assessment objectives. They underscore the value of linking diverse methods and tools, or nesting and stepping their deployment, to help build resilience and sustainability. They conclude that there is no one tool, one framework, or one indicator set that is appropriate for the different purposes and...

Tipo: Peer-Reviewed article

Palavras-chave: Food systems; Multiple perspectives; Performance-based vs. values-based approaches; Sustainability assessment; Sustainability transformation; Tool choice.

Ano: 2016

Scope and precision of sustainability assessment approaches to food systems

Schader, Christian; Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL); christian.schader@fibl.org; Grenz, Jan; Bern University of Applied Sciences; jan.grenz@bfh.ch; Meier, Matthias S; Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL); matthias.meier@fibl.org; Stolze, Matthias; Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL); matthias.stolze@fibl.org.

With sustainability within food systems becoming an increasingly important issue, several approaches that claim to assess the sustainability of farms, farming systems, and supply chains have been developed. Looking more closely at these sustainability impact assessment approaches, we discerned considerable differences between them in terms of scope, the level of assessment, and the precision of indicators used for impact assessment. Our aim was to classify and analyze a range of available sustainability impact assessment approaches with respect to scope and precision. From a total of 35 sustainability assessment approaches, we selected 6 for a detailed comparison. From our analysis, we concluded that there are 3 different types of trade-offs in these...

Tipo: Peer-Reviewed Reports

Palavras-chave: Agriculture; Classification; Life cycle assessment; SAFA guidelines; Sustainability assessment; Typology.

Ano: 2014

Assessing Viability and Sustainability: a Systems-based Approach for Deriving Comprehensive Indicator Sets

Bossel, Hartmut; Sustainable Systems Research; H.Bossel@T-online.de.

Performance assessment in holistic approaches such as integrated natural resource management has to deal with a complex set of interacting and self-organizing natural and human systems and agents, all pursuing their own "interests" while also contributing to the development of the total system. Performance indicators must therefore reflect the viability of essential component systems as well as their contributions to the viability and performance of other component systems and the total system under study. A systems-based derivation of a comprehensive set of performance indicators first requires the identification of essential component systems, their mutual (often hierarchical or reciprocal) relationships, and their contributions to the performance of...

Tipo: Peer-Reviewed Reports

Palavras-chave: Indicators of sustainability; Integrated natural resources management; Orientors; Performance indicators; Sustainability assessment; Systems approach; Viability..

Ano: 2001

Toward an analytical framework for understanding complex social-ecological systems when conducting environmental impact assessments in South Africa

Bowd, Rebecca; School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal; rebecca@greendoorgroup.co.za; Quinn, Nevil W.; Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of the West of England ; nevil.quinn@uwe.ac.uk; Kotze, Donovan C.; School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal; kotzed@ukzn.ac.za.

Consideration of biophysical impacts has historically dominated environmental impact assessment (EIA) practice. Despite the emergence of social impact assessment, the consideration of socioeconomic impacts in EIA is variable, as is the extent of their integration in EIA findings. There is growing recognition for the need to move EIA practice toward sustainability assessment, characterized by comprehensiveness, i.e., scope of impacts, integration, i.e., of biophysical and socioeconomic impacts, and a greater strategic focus. This is particularly the case in developing regions and in countries like South Africa, which have statutory requirements for the full consideration of socioeconomic impacts in EIA. We suggest that EIA practice could benefit from...

Tipo: Peer-Reviewed Reports

Palavras-chave: Ecosystem services; Environmental impact assessment (EIA); Framework; Participation; Social-ecological system (SES); Sustainability assessment.

Ano: 2015

Normative, systemic and procedural aspects: a review of indicator‐based sustainability assessments in agriculture

Binder, Claudia R.; Feola, Giuseppe.

Several methods for assessing the sustainability of agricultural systems have been developed. These methods do not fully: (i) take into account the multi‐functionality of agriculture; (ii) include multidimensionality; (iii) utilize and implement the assessment knowledge; and (iv) identify conflicting goals and trade‐offs. This paper reviews seven recently developed multidisciplinary indicator‐based assessment methods with respect to their contribution to these shortcomings. All approaches include (1) normative aspects such as goal setting, (2) systemic aspects such as a specification of scale of analysis, (3) a reproducible structure of the approach. The approaches can be categorized into three typologies. The top‐down farm assessments focus on field or...

Responsibility and Sustainability in a Food Chain: A Priority Matrix Analysis

Palavras-chave: Sustainability assessment; Indicator; Agriculture; Sustainability solution space; Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Environmental Economics and Policy; Farm Management; International Development; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/117651

Caracciolo, Francesco; Gorgitano, Maria Teresa; Lombardi, Pasquale; Sanino, Giuliana; Verneau, Fabio.

This paper shows the results of empirical research conducted to assess the sustainability of a typical food supply chain, suggesting feasible solutions to satisfy inter-dimensional requisites of durable development. The analysis was conducted with reference to the supply chain of the San Marzano tomato (SMZ), a typical local food. The product is endowed with an origin certification label (PDO), meeting demand within high-value market niches. The SMZ is a flagship product in the Italian region of Campania and has benefited from several regionally funded interventions, such as genetic research and support for the application for EU certification of origin). Two key findings emerged from the research. First, the results allowed us to define a Stakeholder...

Tipo: Article

Palavras-chave: PDO product; Sustainability assessment; Food chain management.; Agribusiness; Farm Management; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Q01; Q20; Q50.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/121950

An Application of Conjoint Analysis in Agricultural Sustainability Assessment

Sydorovych, Olha; Wossink, Ada.

Increasing public interest in the concept of sustainable agriculture has resulted in the development of a number of methods that could be used for the assessment of sustainability of various agricultural production systems. Because of its complex, multi-dimensional nature, sustainability is most often assessed using numerous indicators, which make aggregate comparisons among systems difficult. In this paper we propose a methodology that could be beneficial in aggregate sustainability assessment. We apply conjoint analysis to identify economic, social, and ecological attributes that are perceived as important for agricultural sustainability by different stakeholders and to assess their relative impact on the overall sustainability measure.

Explaining Differences in Farm Sustainability: Evidence from Flemish Dairy Farms

Palavras-chave: Conjoint analysis; Choice experiments; Sustainability assessment; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/44464

Van Passel, Steven; Mathijs, Erik; Van Huylenbroeck, Guido.

An important objective of European agricultural policy is to have a sustainable, efficient farming sector, which uses environmentally-friendly production methods. Agricultural policy makers aim to combine strong economic performance with a sustainable use of natural resources. There is thus a need for tools allowing quantification of farm sustainability as well as for empirical research assessing, analysing and explaining differences in farm sustainability. Using a large dataset of dairy farms, we apply the concept of sustainable value creation to benchmark farm sustainability performance. An effect model captures the determinants of the differences in sustainability among Flemish dairy farms. Our empirical model shows that both managerial and structural...

Assessing farm sustainability with value oriented methods

Palavras-chave: Sustainability assessment; Efficiency; Dairy farming; Performance measurement; Livestock Production/Industries; Q51; Q56; Q57; Q58; Q12.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25262

Van Passel, Steven.

Agricultural policy makers aim to combine strong economic performance with a sustainable use of natural resources. An important step is to move from trying to define sustainability towards developing concrete tools for measuring and promoting achievements in sustainability. Hence, sustainability assessment is inevitably based on strong simplifications both of the theoretical paradigm and of the characteristics of systems of concern. The most known approaches to assess sustainability performance are burden orientated: they assess the costs or potential harm of resource use. These burden-oriented approaches focus on the level of environmental impacts caused by an economic activity compared to another set of environmental impacts, while value-oriented impact...

RISE, a Tool for Holistic Sustainability Assessment at the Farm Level

Palavras-chave: Sustainability assessment; Agriculture; Value oriented; Farm Management.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/44141