Sustainability assessment of farms using SALCAsustain methodology

• Published in: Sustainable production and consumption Vol. 27; pp. 1392 - 1405
• Main Authors: Roesch, Andreas, Nyfeler-Brunner, Aurelia, Gaillard, Gérard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2021
• Subjects: Correlation analysis; Indicators; Semi-structured interviews; Sustainability; Correlation analysis; Indicators; Sustainability; Semi-structured interviews
• ISSN: 2352-5509; 2352-5509
• DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2021.02.022

In recent decades, many sustainability indicators and methods have been developed at farm level, but a validated set of quantitative and scientifically-sound indicators covering all three dimensions of sustainability is still needed. For this reason, the sustainability method SALCAsustain was developed in order to estimate the environmental impact and economic and social situation of farms using a manageable number of indicators. The primary aim of this study was to assess the feasibility, explanatory power, and acceptability to farmers of the SALCAsustain methodical framework. To achieve this goal, SALCAsustain was applied for the first time to selected Swiss farms. In-depth personal feedback interviews were conducted to gain more insights into the feasibility and farmers’ acceptance of the method. The results showed that SALCAsustain is a feasible, acceptable and robust method for assessing farm sustainability based on a set of indicators. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the number of environmental indicators can be reduced due to high correlation, but that the correlation between environmental impact and socioeconomic indicators was generally low. Evaluation of responses to questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with farmers revealed that the majority would adjust their medium and long-term planning to achieve higher sustainability scores. Additional efforts are needed to speed up data collection and to refine plausibility checks, through exploiting the increasing digitalisation in agriculture. Recommendations and instructions on actions for more sustainable farm management are also needed.