SDG indicator 2.4.1, the “Percentage of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture” aims to measure the degree of sustainability of each farm with reference to 11 distinct sustainability attributes, and hence provide an overall national assessment through a dashboard approach. Today, this indicator has an internationally agreed methodology, and dozens of countries around the world are receiving technical assistance from FAO in its measurement and implementation. However, what we may now take as a given is the result of a long and arduous process of methodological development that involved a series of difficult decisions on numerous methodological aspects. This paper reviews and provides supporting documentation for these key methodological decisions, particularly with regard to the definition of agricultural sustainability, the choice of the scale of the sustainability assessment and the data collection instrument; the sub-indicators within each dimension; the criteria to assess the sustainability level of the farm with respect to each sub-indicator; and the modality of synthesizing the information. These decisions were further encumbered by the need to faithfully capture progress towards a multidimensional SDG target determined by a political process, with negligible input from statistical experts.
Food sustainability transitions refer to transformation processes necessary to move towards sustainable food systems. Digitization is one of the most important ongoing transformation processes in global agriculture and food chains. The review paper explores the contribution of information and communication...
In this paper is presented a novel approach to elicit stakeholder visions of future desired land use, which was applied with a broad range of experts to develop cross-sectoral visions in Europe. The approach is based on (i) combination of...
Background: Up to now, efforts to help local communities out of the food-insecurity trap were guided by researcher (or other actors)-led decisions on technologies to be implemented by the communities. This approach has proved inefficient because of low adoption of...
In this study, it is applies a participatory scenario modelling framework to assess potential societal responses to the impacts of climate change by the mid-21st century, and model consequent land use and land cover change scenarios under different livelihood futures...
Agricultural innovation in low-income tropical countries contributes to a more effective and sustainable use of natural resources and reduces hunger and poverty through economic development in rural areas. Yet, despite numerous recent public and private initiatives to develop capacities for...