Search Results (13)

The dairy sector faces increasing pressure to adopt sustainable practices. Various tools have been developed to evaluate sustainability of the dairy supply chain. This paper provides an overview of these tools, highlighting their strengths and limitations regarding sustainability dimensions, indicators, and system boundaries. A systematic literature search identified 27 tools that were then categorized into a typology based on dimensions of sustainability, geographical applicability, and accessibility. In-depth analysis was conducted on six tools: Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA), Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment RouTine (SMART), Response-Inducing Sustainability Evaluation (RISE) 3.0 version, Swiss Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment (SALCAsustain), MOnitoring Tool for Integrated Farm Sustainability (MOTIFS), and Technology Impact and Policy Impact CALculations (TIPICAL). Assessment focused on the relevance of covered sustainability dimensions to the dairy sector, level of supply chain coverage, type of indicators, accessibility, and practicability. The review identified tools which integrate multiple sustainability aspects in a comprehensive way (SAFA and SMART) and tools offering accurate quantification of the impact on sustainability dimensions of the production system (SALCAsustain, RISE, MOTIFS, TIPICAL). Only two tools extend assessment past the farm gate (SAFA, SMART). Future users should select tools based on the specific objectives of measuring sustainability in dairy systems. This review contributes to the literature by addressing various aspects of sustainability assessment tools, by addressing the need for an integrated and comprehensive view, and by considering the entire dairy supply chain. Full article

Research on social–ecological systems is rapidly expanding globally in response to human-induced climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation. Safeguarding these traditional agroecosystems is vital according to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In the last decade, there has been a growing research interest in the Village Tank Cascade Systems (VTCSs) of Sri Lanka, recognised as social–ecological systems. However, few studies have systematically analysed VTCS research in Sri Lanka. To examine this apparent knowledge gap in more detail, a bibliometric analysis and knowledge mapping were conducted to systematically analyse and interpret the state, trends, clusters, and emerging fields of VTCS research. In total, 159 peer-reviewed research publications between 1985 and 2023 were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus databases, Google Scholar, and ResearchGate to perform this analysis. Furthermore, this study employed the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems (SAFA) tool, developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to map the inclusion of sustainability and productivity dimensions in VTCS research, in alignment with the objectives set forth by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The study provides insight into dominant and neglected areas of future VTCS research. Full article

Geographical Indications (GIs) are widely considered as tools to contribute to sustainability (The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations—FAO, 2009; 2017), if established and well managed. While the literature may not always agree on the positive effects of GIs in all sustainability dimensions (e.g., economic, social, and environmental), there is evidence that engaging GI producers in a sustainability strategy can maximize their contribution to different components of sustainable development. FAO and oriGIn developed the sustainability strategy for GI (SSGI) to support GI producers and their associations so that they could engage in a place-based and participative approach in order to generate concrete progress and results. This paper presents original research for building both a framework and database for the selection and use of relevant sustainability indicators for GIs. A number of SSGI principles have guided the work throughout an iterative process for reviewing, selecting, and improving relevant indicators, while the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA) has provided the structure to align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other widely used and recognized sustainability frameworks. As a result of this work, a database of 372 robust sustainability indicators that are relevant to GIs have been characterized to facilitate their use by practitioners. The discussion highlights the importance of the place-based approach, and the participative, inclusive process that represents the key to empowerment and the ability to develop alliances. It also focuses on action, and the need to strengthen both internal and external communication. Full article

Latest international directives indicate the need for sustainable development, linking socio-economic and environmental aspects, to reach the goals set by Agenda 2030. In this context, peri-urban agriculture can represent the opportunity to increase cities’ sustainability, improving their liveability level, fulfilling a crucial social part since it assures new sources of job opportunities and territorial requalification. This study presents a peri-urban requalification experience, conducted in Milan, Italy, where, within the European funded project OpenAgri, eight agri-food start-ups began their activities in a peri-urban area at the southern gates of the city. The study aims to assess and evaluate these start-ups’ sustainability using the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems (SAFA), which considers four sustainability pillars: Good governance, economic resilience, environmental integrity and social well-being. The application of SAFA indicators to the eight start-ups revealed their positive aspects and some limitations, typical of some not structured enterprises. The research describes a scalable and replicable example of peri-urban agriculture’s potentiality in solving environmental, social and economic issues and tests FAO’s SAFA framework, which is still unexplored in this sustainability assessment context. Full article

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and pollutants, soil erosion and groundwater pollution are some of the negative aspects blamed on livestock farming, so their level of sustainability needs to be assessed, taking into account the territory in which they operate. The research focuses on the assessment of sustainability performance in the four dimensions of good governance: environmental integrity, economic resilience and social well-being, considered by the ‘‘Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems’’ (SAFA) tool developed by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The objective of applying this methodology is to highlight the sustainability dimensions in which the ten analyzed farms are weakest and the ones in which they show the most strength, in order to provide farmers a tool to understand the criticalities on which to intervene. The farms considered follow the principles of agroecology and organic farming, which are decisive in the pursuit of sustainable development. The overall results show a satisfactory level of sustainability with high prospects for improvement, in line with the EU commitments undertaken in the Green Deal and the Millennium Development Goals. Livestock farms must, therefore, be encouraged and accompanied with targeted technical assistance strategies and appropriate agroecological protocols. Full article

The sub-humid native rainforest in Yucatan is one of the most endangered in Mexico. Cattle production is one of the main causes of land use change and silvopastoral systems are a feasible alternative. This work compares the sustainable performance of silvopastoral (native and intensive) and monoculture cattle farms in the state of Yucatan using the Sustainability Assessment for Food and Agriculture (SAFA) framework. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were applied in 9 farms. Responses were fed to the SAFA Tool to obtain sustainability polygons. Percentages of SAFA themes positively and negatively valuated were calculated. Native farms had positive ratings for Participation, Land, Biodiversity and Cultural Diversity, whereas intensive excelled on Holistic Management. Native farms had limited ratings for Decent Livelihood. Native farms (and one intensive silvopastoral farm) had the highest percentages of themes positively valuated compared to monocultures (and one intensive silvopastoral farm), which scored the lowest. Positive evaluations identified native systems as an option for sustainable production; however, areas of opportunity in all farms were discovered. This is the first comparative study using SAFA to evaluate differences in farming systems in the Mexican tropics, providing valuable information to generate policies and incentives on sustainable livestock production, as well as for improving evaluation tools for local application. Full article

Bottarga is a high-priced delicacy with high nutritional value, and, in Italy, bottarga from mullets has been recognized to be a traditional food product. The flathead grey mullet Mugil cephalus and the thinlip grey mullet Liza ramada are the main cultured grey mullets in the Mediterranean Sea. In this study, fresh roe and bottarga from these two species were investigated to evaluate the influence of the technological process and the species on their biochemical composition and health advantages. The 1 h/200 g salting-out step did not increase the levels of NaCl in the bottarga, although it highly decreased the levels of some heavy metals like Cu and Al. Processing of fresh roe in bottarga led to an essential modification of the lipid fraction, following a general series of monousatturated fatty acid (MUFA)> poliunsutturated fatti acid (PUFA) > saturated fatty acid (SAFA) and an increase in both ω3 and ω6 in Liza ramada. Moreover, bottarga showed higher levels of squalene and cholesterol and an increased Essential Amino Acid/Total Amino Acid ratio (EAA/TAA) in both species. In addition to the nutritional benefits for the consumer, the process proposed in this study may represent a reliable tool for local producers to obtain a final bottarga with both a reproducible biochemical composition and organoleptic characteristics. Full article

A number of tools and models have been developed to assess farm-level sustainability. However, it is unclear how well they potentially incorporate ecosystem services (ES), or how they may contribute to attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Understanding how farm-level assessment tools and models converge on these new paradigms of sustainability is important for drawing comparison on sustainability performances of farming systems, conducting meta-analyses and upscaling local responses to global driving forces. In this study, a coverage analysis was performed for several farm-level sustainability assessment (SA) tools (SAFA, RISE, KSNL, DLG) and models (MODAM, MONICA, APSIM), in regard to their potential for incorporating ES and contribution to attaining the SDGs. Lists of agricultural-relevant CICES classes and SDG targets were compiled and matched against the indicators of the tools and models. The results showed that SAFA possessed the most comprehensive coverage of ES and SDGs, followed by RISE and KSNL. In comparison to models, SA tools were observed to have a higher degree of potential for covering ES and SDGs, which was attributed to larger and broader indicators sets. However, this study also suggested that, overall, current tools and models do not sufficiently articulate the concept of ecosystem services. Full article

Sustainability is a topic that is at the center of current discussions in the political, economic, social, and environmental fields. For its analysis, an integral and multidisciplinary vision is needed. This work aims to assess the sustainability of agricultural systems in Paraguay through a comparison applying SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems) indicators. The research focuses on 15 case studies on the territory of the Eastern Region of Paraguay divided into five classes of agricultural systems: agribusiness, conventional peasant family farming, agroecological peasant family farming, neo-rural farming, and indigenous agriculture. Data were collected through interviews with producers and key informants, direct observation, and scientific literature research in order to assess, through the SAFA Tool Software, the level of sustainability of each agricultural system as a whole and for each sustainability dimension (political, environmental, economic, and social dimension) in a comparative way. It has emerged that producers belonging to conventional peasant family farming, agroecological peasant family farming, neo-rural farming, and indigenous agriculture have achieved levels of sustainability that are similar to each other and very good in all four dimensions of sustainability. Meanwhile, agribusiness achieved moderate scores in the dimensions of governance and environmental integrity, and was good in the economic and social dimension. Full article

Caívas are traditional silvopastoral systems that occur in the Araucaria Forest biome, Southern Brazil, in which animal production and erva-mate extraction are integrated. Participatory research was conducted in caívas in the Northern Plateau, Santa Catarina State, to identify strategies to intensify pasture use and increase animal productivity. To better understand the outcomes of these strategies, a sustainability assessment was conducted in properties that participated in the research (improved caívas; IC) and those that did not (traditional caívas; TC). The Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) tool 2.0.0 for smallholders was chosen as it evaluates the productive unit as a whole using environmental, social, economic, and governance indicators and is tailored for small-scale production. All evaluated indicators showed higher scores for IC properties in relation to TC. In general, the SAFA analysis showed that when evaluated as productive systems, TCs are a strategic option for rural development, as 65% of their indicators were evaluated as good. With the support of rural outreach and research and the adoption of appropriate technologies, this percentage increased to 86% in ICs. These results confirm that with adequate support caívas can significantly contribute to the development of more sustainable livestock farming in Southern Brazil. Full article

Within the framework of multifunctional conceptualisation, the authors have investigated the level of public goods embedded in Agri-food geographical indication products. Moving from the concept of the local Agri-food system, the generation of public goods are observed both on the value chain and on the territory. Three different dimensions of public goods are considered: Cultural heritage issues, socio-economic themes, and natural resources. To pursue this aim, the FAO-SAFA method is adopted. A single index for the three dimensions is computed in order to provide an easy and quick interpretation of the three dimensions. Preliminary empirical evidence on two cases studies suggests different public goods levels embedded in geographical indications, depending on the dimensions analysed. The method proposed aims to be a simple and effective tool to support good practice for policy makers and indicate fields for intervention where indexes show that improvements could be made. Full article

The aim of this research is to contribute to food security by studying the development of integrated organic production models related to the biodiversity of food sources, soil fertility and water availability, both in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Sicily. Using the FAO’s multi-facetted approach of the Sustainable Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) Tool, combined with interviews and visits to two organic farming communities in the UAE and Sicily, preliminary results were obtained consisting of: SAFA reports for each farmer and each community and the identification of some additional SAFA Tool indicators for local markets and migrant worker relations. Overall, the two systems contain elements described in the literature, such as Short Food Local Systems and as such contribute to territorial food support. Some best practices in organic production, direct marketing and migrant worker integration were identified and shared with farmers. The study highlights some operational issues that will be further focused upon in the future. Full article

When trying to optimize the sustainability performance of farms and farming systems, a consideration of trade-offs and synergies between different themes and dimensions is required. The aim of this paper is to perform a systematic analysis of trade-offs and synergies across all dimensions and themes. To achieve this aim we used the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment Routine (SMART)-Farm Tool which operationalizes the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) Guidelines by defining science-based indicator sets and assessment procedures. It identifies the degree of goal achievement with respect to the 58 themes defined in the SAFA Guidelines using an impact matrix that defines 327 indicators and 1769 relations between sustainability themes and indicators. We illustrate how the SMART-Farm Tool can be successfully applied to assess the sustainability performance of farms of different types and in different geographic regions. Our analysis revealed important synergies between themes within a sustainability dimension and across dimensions. We found major trade-offs within the environmental dimension and between the environmental and economic dimension. The trade-offs within the environmental dimension were even larger than the trade-offs with other dimensions. The study also underlines the importance of the governance dimension with regard to achieving a good level of performance in the other dimensions. Full article