Assessing Sustainability of Organic Livestock Farming in Sicily: A Case Study Using the FAO SAFA Framework

Cammarata, Mariarita; Timpanaro, Giuseppe; Scuderi, Alessandro

doi:10.3390/agriculture11030274

Cited by 25 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The study by [87] in the central Sicily Mountains showed that a growing economy would also require more resources to reduce environmental impacts, modernize animal shelters and use renewable energy sources to make them more sustainable. It illustrates how, on the one hand, the sustainability areas that are discussed in SAFA are interconnected, and, on the other, that there are many open pathways for Sicilian organic farms to improve their performance.…”

Section: Safamentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Sustainability Assessment Frameworks in Agriculture

Alaoui

Barão

Ferreira

et al. 2022

Land

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent research established a link between environmental alterations due to agriculture intensification, social damage and the loss of economic growth. Thus, the integration of environmental and social dimensions is key for economic development. In recent years, several frameworks have been proposed to assess the overall sustainability of farms. Nevertheless, the myriad of existing frameworks and the variety of indicators result in difficulties in selecting the most appropriate framework for study site application. This manuscript aims to: (i) understand the criteria to select appropriate frameworks and summarize the range of those being used to assess sustainability; (ii) identify the available frameworks to assess agricultural sustainability; and (iii) analyze the strengths, weaknesses and applicability of each framework. Six frameworks, namely SAFA, RISE, MASC, LADA, SMART and public goods (PG), were identified. Results show that SMART is the framework that considers, in a balanced way, the environmental, sociocultural and economic dimensions of sustainability, whereas others focused on the environmental (RISE), environmental and economic (PG) and sociocultural (SAFA) dimension. However, depending on the scale assessment, sector of application and the sustainability completeness intended, all frameworks are suitable for the assessment. We present a decision tree to help future users understand the best option for their objective.

show abstract

Section: Safamentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Sustainability Assessment Frameworks in Agriculture

Alaoui

Barão

Ferreira

et al. 2022

Land

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In Sicily, sustainability performance was studied under dimensions of good governance: environmental integrity, economic resilience and social well-being under the framework of the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agricultural Systems" (SAFA) developed by FAO. It was implemented in ten agricultural systems, providing farmers with a tool that allows them to know the critical points on which they must intervene in search of sustainable development (9).…”

Section: Situation Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Sustainability In Livestock Production Systems In Cordoba, Colombia.

Nobles

Rocha

Farreras

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The concept of sustainability is usually broad; it refers to the ability of the system to meet the current demand for livestock products without compromising the use of resources by future generations. Therefore, this study has been conducted to provide an overview of rotational, intensive, and regenerative livestock models to evaluate and measure their level of sustainability in the environmental, social, and economic dimensions to guide livestock guilds, professionals and stakeholders to transform their agricultural systems by adopting the concept of sustainability. The results show that the regenerative livestock system has a high association with the economic dimension in the Almost Good category, in the environmental dimension in the Moderate category, and in the social dimension in the Almost Good and Very Good categories. On the other hand, the rotational livestock system and the intensive livestock system have an association with the environmental dimension categorized as good; however, the association of the intensive livestock system is not as strong as that of the rotational livestock system.

show abstract

“…These problems can exert dramatic influences on the level of SH, causing a decrease in crop yields, decline in agricultural product quality, reduction in biodiversity, and even human health hazard. In view of the external attributes or environmental factors that limit the sustainability of SH, the indicators of SH hazards for farmland, including the degree of soil salinization, depth of the barrier layer, degree of soil erosion, white pollution, pesticide residues, irrigation water pollution, heavy metals pollution, atmospheric pollution, degree of surface rock exposure, crop pollution, gravel content, soil acidification, soil compaction, flood disasters, and soil alkalization, were selected in the present study [61][62][63][64][65].…”

Section: Selection Of Evaluation Indicatormentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Health Evaluation of Farmland Based on Functional Soil Management—A Case Study of Yixing City, Jiangsu Province, China

Zhao

2021

Agriculture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Given that farmland serves as a strategic resource to ensure national food security, blind emphasis on the improvement of food production capacity can lead to soil overutilization and impair other soil functions. Hence, the evaluation of soil health (SH) should comprehensively take soil productivity and ecological environmental effects into account. In this study, five functions from the perspective of functional soil management were summarized, including primary productivity, provision and cycling of nutrients, the provision of functional and intrinsic biodiversity, water purification and regulation, and carbon sequestration and regulation. For each soil function, in view of the natural and ameliorable conditions affecting SH, basic indicators were selected from the two aspects of inherent and dynamic properties, and restrictive indicators were chosen considering the external properties or environmental elements, with the minimum limiting factor method coupled with weighted linear model. The new evaluation system was tested and verified in Yixing City, China. The healthy and optimally functional soils were concentrated in the northeast and mid-west of Yixing City, whereas unhealthy soils were predominant in the south and around Taihu Lake. The main limitations to SH improvement included cation exchange capacity, nutrient elements, and soluble carbon. The SH evaluation method was verified using the crop performance validation method, and a positive correlation was noted between food production stability index and soil health index, indicating that the evaluation system is reasonable.

show abstract

Assessing Sustainability of Organic Livestock Farming in Sicily: A Case Study Using the FAO SAFA Framework

Cited by 25 publications

References 30 publications

An Overview of Sustainability Assessment Frameworks in Agriculture

An Overview of Sustainability Assessment Frameworks in Agriculture

Analysis of Sustainability In Livestock Production Systems In Cordoba, Colombia.

Soil Health Evaluation of Farmland Based on Functional Soil Management—A Case Study of Yixing City, Jiangsu Province, China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About