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Towards metrics of sustainable food systems: a review of the resilience and vulnerability literature

Author

Listed:
  • Paolo Prosperi

    (Bioversity International, Parc Scientifique Agropolis II)

  • Thomas Allen

    (Bioversity International, Parc Scientifique Agropolis II)

  • Bruce Cogill

    (Bioversity International)

  • Martine Padilla

    (Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier (CIHEAM/IAMM - UMR Moïsa, Markets, Organizations, Institutions and Operators’ Strategies))

  • Iuri Peri

    (University of Catania)

Abstract

Food and nutrition security is a persisting global issue and, in addition, food systems are now facing a new set of intersecting economic, social and environmental challenges. Recurrent socio-economic and biophysical changes put the sustainability of food systems at risk. There is an urgent need to develop knowledge-based tools to assess and monitor food sustainability and to identify pathways for food security and resource conservation. The systemic nature of these interactions calls for multidimensional approaches and integrated assessments for decision-making to guide change. This paper reviews social–ecological system frameworks with the view to conceptualize the sustainability issues that affect the food systems. It is argued that the understanding of the food systems as social–ecological systems, and inputs from the theories of vulnerability and resilience in particular, can provide the concepts necessary to understand and model the complex system dynamics involved in the multiple interactions between human and natural components.

Suggested Citation

  • Paolo Prosperi & Thomas Allen & Bruce Cogill & Martine Padilla & Iuri Peri, 2016. "Towards metrics of sustainable food systems: a review of the resilience and vulnerability literature," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 3-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:36:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s10669-016-9584-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10669-016-9584-7
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    5. Sungyoon Lee & Jennifer Dodge & Gang Chen, 2022. "The cost of social vulnerability: an integrative conceptual framework and model for assessing financial risks in natural disaster management," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 114(1), pages 691-712, October.
    6. Federica Consentino & Gabriella Vindigni & Daniela Spina & Clara Monaco & Iuri Peri, 2023. "An Agricultural Career through the Lens of Young People," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-16, July.
    7. Virginia Vallejo-Rojas & Marta G. Rivera-Ferre & Federica Ravera, 2022. "The agri-food system (re)configuration: the case study of an agroecological network in the Ecuadorian Andes," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1301-1327, December.
    8. Thomas Allen & Paolo Prosperi & Bruce Cogill & Martine Padilla & Iuri Peri, 2019. "A Delphi Approach to Develop Sustainable Food System Metrics," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 1307-1339, February.
    9. Mequanint B. Melesse & Marrit Berg & Christophe Béné & Alan Brauw & Inge D. Brouwer, 2020. "Metrics to analyze and improve diets through food Systems in low and Middle Income Countries," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(5), pages 1085-1105, October.
    10. Yevheniia Varyvoda & Douglas Taren, 2022. "Considering Ecosystem Services in Food System Resilience," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-16, March.

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