IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i18p5120-d268509.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Agricultural Sustainability: A Review of Concepts and Methods

Author

Listed:
  • Maria G. Lampridi

    (Center for Research & Technology Hellas—CERTH, Institute for Bio-economy and Agri-technology—iBO, 10th km Thessalonikis—Thermis, BALKAN Center, BLDG D, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
    Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Environment, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Claus G. Sørensen

    (Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Finlandsgade 22, DK8200 Aarhus N, Denmark)

  • Dionysis Bochtis

    (Center for Research & Technology Hellas—CERTH, Institute for Bio-economy and Agri-technology—iBO, 10th km Thessalonikis—Thermis, BALKAN Center, BLDG D, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece)

Abstract

This paper presents a methodological framework for the systematic literature review of agricultural sustainability studies. The framework synthesizes all the available literature review criteria and introduces a two-level analysis facilitating systematization, data mining, and methodology analysis. The framework was implemented for the systematic literature review of 38 crop agricultural sustainability assessment studies at farm-level for the last decade. The investigation of the methodologies used is of particular importance since there are no standards or norms for the sustainability assessment of farming practices. The chronological analysis revealed that the scientific community’s interest in agricultural sustainability is increasing in the last three years. The most used methods include indicator-based tools, frameworks, and indexes, followed by multicriteria methods. In the reviewed studies, stakeholder participation is proved crucial in the determination of the level of sustainability. It should also be mentioned that combinational use of methodologies is often observed, thus a clear distinction of methodologies is not always possible.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria G. Lampridi & Claus G. Sørensen & Dionysis Bochtis, 2019. "Agricultural Sustainability: A Review of Concepts and Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-27, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:18:p:5120-:d:268509
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/18/5120/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/18/5120/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Evelien M. De Olde & Frank W. Oudshoorn & Eddie A. M. Bokkers & Anke Stubsgaard & Claus A. G. Sørensen & Imke J. M. De Boer, 2016. "Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Organic Farms in Denmark," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Snapp, Sieglinde S. & Grabowski, Philip & Chikowo, Regis & Smith, Alex & Anders, Erin & Sirrine, Dorothy & Chimonyo, Vimbayi & Bekunda, Mateete, 2018. "Maize yield and profitability tradeoffs with social, human and environmental performance: Is sustainable intensification feasible?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 77-88.
    3. Ranjan Roy & Ngai Weng Chan, 2012. "An assessment of agricultural sustainability indicators in Bangladesh: review and synthesis," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 99-110, March.
    4. Ivonne Acosta-Alba & Hayo M. G. Van der Werf, 2011. "The Use of Reference Values in Indicator-Based Methods for the Environmental Assessment of Agricultural Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-19, February.
    5. Walter, Christof & Stützel, Hartmut, 2009. "A new method for assessing the sustainability of land-use systems (II): Evaluating impact indicators," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1288-1300, March.
    6. Evelien M. de Olde & Henrik Moller & Fleur Marchand & Richard W. McDowell & Catriona J. MacLeod & Marion Sautier & Stephan Halloy & Andrew Barber & Jayson Benge & Christian Bockstaller & Eddie A. M. B, 2017. "When experts disagree: the need to rethink indicator selection for assessing sustainability of agriculture," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1327-1342, August.
    7. Giuseppina Siciliano, 2009. "Social multicriteria evaluation of farming practices in the presence of soil degradation. A case study in Southern Tuscany, Italy," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 11(6), pages 1107-1133, December.
    8. Francesco Sottile & Daniela Fiorito & Nadia Tecco & Vincenzo Girgenti & Cristiana Peano, 2016. "An Interpretive Framework for Assessing and Monitoring the Sustainability of School Gardens," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-15, August.
    9. Luong Van Pham & Carl Smith, 2014. "Drivers of agricultural sustainability in developing countries: a review," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 326-341, June.
    10. Walter, Christof & Stützel, Hartmut, 2009. "A new method for assessing the sustainability of land-use systems (I): Identifying the relevant issues," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1275-1287, March.
    11. Irina Santiago-Brown & Andrew Metcalfe & Cate Jerram & Cassandra Collins, 2015. "Sustainability Assessment in Wine-Grape Growing in the New World: Economic, Environmental, and Social Indicators for Agricultural Businesses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-27, June.
    12. El Chami, D. & Daccache, A., 2015. "Assessing sustainability of winter wheat production under climate change scenarios in a humid climate — An integrated modelling framework," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 19-25.
    13. Ernest Reig‐Martínez & José A. Gómez‐Limón & Andrés J. Picazo‐Tadeo, 2011. "Ranking farms with a composite indicator of sustainability," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 42(5), pages 561-575, September.
    14. Latruffe, Laure & Diazabakana, Ambre & Bockstaller, Christian & Desjeux, Yann & Finn, John & Kelly, Edel & Ryan, Mary & Uthes, Sandra, 2016. "Measurement of sustainability in agriculture: a review of indicators," Studies in Agricultural Economics, Research Institute for Agricultural Economics, vol. 118(3), pages 1-8, December.
    15. Deepti Sharma & Shardendu Shardendu, 2011. "Assessing farm-level agricultural sustainability over a 60-year period in rural eastern India," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 325-337, September.
    16. Eliane Gomes & João Soares de Mello & Geraldo Souza & Lidia Angulo Meza & João Mangabeira, 2009. "Efficiency and sustainability assessment for a group of farmers in the Brazilian Amazon," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 167-181, July.
    17. Peter, Christiane & Helming, Katharina & Nendel, Claas, 2017. "Do greenhouse gas emission calculations from energy crop cultivation reflect actual agricultural management practices? – A review of carbon footprint calculators," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 461-476.
    18. Haroon Sajjad & Iffat Nasreen, 2016. "Assessing farm-level agricultural sustainability using site-specific indicators and sustainable livelihood security index: Evidence from Vaishali district, India," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(5), pages 602-619, October.
    19. Cristiana Peano & Nadia Tecco & Egidio Dansero & Vincenzo Girgenti & Francesco Sottile, 2015. "Evaluating the Sustainability in Complex Agri-Food Systems: The SAEMETH Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-21, May.
    20. Gómez-Limón, José A. & Sanchez-Fernandez, Gabriela, 2010. "Empirical evaluation of agricultural sustainability using composite indicators," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1062-1075, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Norman Siebrecht, 2020. "Sustainable Agriculture and Its Implementation Gap—Overcoming Obstacles to Implementation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-27, May.
    2. Shamsheer Haq & Ismet Boz, 2020. "Measuring environmental, economic, and social sustainability index of tea farms in Rize Province, Turkey," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 2545-2567, March.
    3. Ionuț-Alexandru Spânu & Alexandru Ozunu & Dacinia Crina Petrescu & Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag, 2022. "A Comparative View of Agri-Environmental Indicators and Stakeholders’ Assessment of Their Quality," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Mutyasira, Vine & Hoag, Dana & Pendell, Dustin & Manning, Dale T. & Berhe, Melaku, 2018. "Assessing the relative sustainability of smallholder farming systems in Ethiopian highlands," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 83-91.
    5. Ranjan Roy & Ngai Weng Chan, 2012. "An assessment of agricultural sustainability indicators in Bangladesh: review and synthesis," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 99-110, March.
    6. Paula Trivino-Tarradas & Manuel R. Gomez-Ariza & Gottlieb Basch & Emilio J. Gonzalez-Sanchez, 2019. "Sustainability Assessment of Annual and Permanent Crops: The Inspia Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, January.
    7. Siavash Fallah-Alipour & Hossein Mehrabi Boshrabadi & Mohammad Reza Zare Mehrjerdi & Dariush Hayati, 2018. "A Framework for Empirical Assessment of Agricultural Sustainability: The Case of Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-26, December.
    8. Samir Mili & Javier Martínez-Vega, 2019. "Accounting for Regional Heterogeneity of Agricultural Sustainability in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, January.
    9. Artiom Volkov & Mangirdas Morkunas & Tomas Balezentis & Vaida Šapolaitė, 2020. "Economic and Environmental Performance of the Agricultural Sectors of the Selected EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-17, February.
    10. Maria Lampridi & Dimitrios Kateris & Claus Grøn Sørensen & Dionysis Bochtis, 2020. "Energy Footprint of Mechanized Agricultural Operations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Luong Van Pham & Carl Smith, 2014. "Drivers of agricultural sustainability in developing countries: a review," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 326-341, June.
    12. Anna Gaviglio & Mattia Bertocchi & Maria Elena Marescotti & Eugenio Demartini & Alberto Pirani, 2016. "The social pillar of sustainability: a quantitative approach at the farm level," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-19, December.
    13. Susana G. Azevedo & Minelle E. Silva & João C. O. Matias & Gustavo P. Dias, 2018. "The Influence of Collaboration Initiatives on the Sustainability of the Cashew Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-29, June.
    14. Victoria Vicario-Modroño & Rosa Gallardo-Cobos & Pedro Sánchez-Zamora, 2023. "Sustainability evaluation of olive oil mills in Andalusia (Spain): a study based on composite indicators," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 6363-6392, July.
    15. Stylianou, Andreas & Sdrali, Despina & Apostolopoulos, Constantinos D., 2020. "Capturing the diversity of Mediterranean farming systems prior to their sustainability assessment: The case of Cyprus," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    16. Hubeau, Marianne & Marchand, Fleur & Coteur, Ine & Mondelaers, Koen & Debruyne, Lies & Van Huylenbroeck, Guido, 2017. "A new agri-food systems sustainability approach to identify shared transformation pathways towards sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 52-63.
    17. Viswanatha Reddy Krishna & Venkatesh Paramesh & Vadivel Arunachalam & Bappa Das & Hosam O. Elansary & Arjun Parab & Dendi Damodar Reddy & K. S. Shashidhar & Diaa O. El-Ansary & Eman A. Mahmoud & Moham, 2020. "Assessment of Sustainability and Priorities for Development of Indian West Coast Region: An Application of Sustainable Livelihood Security Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-19, October.
    18. Sulewski, Piotr & Kłoczko-Gajewska, Anna, 2018. "Development of the sustainability index of farms based on surveys and FADN sample," Problems of Agricultural Economics / Zagadnienia Ekonomiki Rolnej 276476, Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute (IAFE-NRI).
    19. Pokorny, Benno & Robiglio, Valentina & Reyes, Martin & Vargas, Ricardo & Patiño Carrera, Cesar Francesco, 2021. "The potential of agroforestry concessions to stabilize Amazonian forest frontiers: a case study on the economic and environmental robustness of informally settled small-scale cocoa farmers in Peru," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    20. Yahui Lv & Chao Zhang & Jiani Ma & Wenju Yun & Lulu Gao & Pengshan Li, 2019. "Sustainability Assessment of Smallholder Farmland Systems: Healthy Farmland System Assessment Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-19, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:18:p:5120-:d:268509. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.