Global map and indicators of food system sustainability
Open Access
- 25 November 2019
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Scientific Data
- Vol. 6 (1), 1-15
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0301-5
Abstract
This paper presents the first global map of food systems sustainability based on a rigorous protocol. The choice of the metric dimensions, as well as the individual indicators included in the metric, were initially identified from a thorough review of the existing literature. A rigorous inclusion/exclusion protocol was then used to refine the list and shorten it to a sub-set of 27 indicators. An aggregate sustainability score was then computed based on those 27 indicators organized into four dimensions: environment, social, food security & nutrition and economic. The paper shows how the availability of data (or lack therefore) results in an unavoidable trade-off between number of indicators and number of countries, and highlights how optimization can be used to present the most robust metric possible given the existence of this trade-offs in the data space. The process results in the computation of a global sustainability map covering 97 countries and 20 indicators. The sustainability scores obtained for each country are made available over the entire range of indicators.Keywords
Funding Information
- CGIAR/A4NH FP1-FSHD
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