Table 2 Indicators of food sustainability (for detailed indicator descriptions and results, see Supplementary Data). Citations indicate scientific publications applying these indicators.
Dimension | Description | Indicators | Food system activity |
|---|---|---|---|
Access, availability, utilization, and stability of food | Access to land by food system actors | Production | |
Access to water for production | Production | ||
Capacity in the food system to process food | Processing and storage | ||
Capacity to store food | Retail and trade | ||
Availability of food at affordable prices | Consumption | ||
Share of locally produced food in the food system | Consumption | ||
Ability to provide food to food system actors | Consumption | ||
Capacity of the food system to fulfil the perceptions of local families of a “good diet” | Consumption | ||
Household food security level | Transversal | ||
Right to food21 | Implementation of the state’s obligations to respect, protect and fulfil everyone’s access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement | Water accessibility for domestic consumption | Production |
Water quality for domestic consumption | Production | ||
Food system’s impact on overall water accessibility for irrigation | Production | ||
Access to seeds | Production | ||
Perceptions on land tenure/land rights | Production | ||
Proportion of women with land rights (access, use and tenure of land) | Production | ||
Proportion of women who have access to agricultural credit | Production | ||
Contribution to food diversity | Consumption | ||
Covering nutritional needs | Consumption | ||
Promotion of local food traditions | Consumption | ||
Perception on access to food-related information | Consumption | ||
Perception on participation in decision-making related to food | Consumption | ||
Remedies for violations of the right to food | Transversal | ||
Child labour (proportion of school age children not engaged in work in the food system) | Transversal | ||
Distribution of incomes and assets along value chains | Farmers’ incomes | Production | |
Wages of large-farm employees | Production | ||
Wages of employees at processing and storage levels | Processing and storage | ||
Wages of employees at retail level | Retail and trade | ||
Food expenditure and consumption baskets (including non-marketed production) | Consumption | ||
Financial capital (savings, income, access to finance); Human capital (education, experience, health) | Transversal | ||
Social capital: membership or participation in networks; mutual support; use of group tools/equipment/infrastructure | Transversal | ||
Physical capital (infrastructure, fulfilment of basic needs, material necessary for the system to function (e.g. transport, storage facilities) livestock | Transversal | ||
Natural capital: quantity and quality of households’ natural resources | Production | ||
Decent and safe working conditions | Transversal | ||
Social protection: access to social security, health care and income security | Transversal | ||
Effects of food systems on the quality of the natural resource base and the wider environment | Agroecosystem service capacity | Production | |
Soil quality | Production | ||
Use of agrochemicals | Production | ||
Use of materials (plastics and others) | Transversal | ||
Energy use intensity | Transversal | ||
Carbon footprint | Transversal | ||
Water footprint | Transversal | ||
Health impact perceptions related to the food system | Transversal | ||
Resilience of the food system in terms of buffer capacity, self-organization, and the capacity for learning and adaptation | Diversity of crops and breeds | Production | |
Landscape heterogeneity | Production | ||
Liveable wage | Transversal | ||
Decentralization and independence | Transversal | ||
Local consumption of production (proportion of food that is produced and consumed locally or on-farm) | Consumption | ||
Organization in interest groups | Transversal | ||
Ecological self-regulation (provision of habitats for biodiversity) | Production | ||
Connectivity of food systems and their components | Transversal | ||
Knowledge of threats and opportunities | Transversal | ||
Reflective and shared learning | Transversal | ||
Functioning feedback mechanisms | Transversal | ||
Knowledge legacy and identity | Transversal | ||
Shared vision on the food system | Transversal |
