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Crop diversification represents a key lever to support the development of sustainable agri-food systems. Knowledge on trade-offs and carry over effects from different crop diversification strategies is essential to inform agricultural stakeholders of potential costs and benefits. This knowledge is limited by existing data and performance measures predominantly focused on single crops, rather than complete rotations. Moreover, sustainability performance indicators are often used for assessment purposes, rather than supporting stakeholder learning and actions. A new set of 32 indicators was developed to address these needs, and used to evaluate the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the diversified agricultural systems highlighted in the case studies, which are often characterized by data availability constraints. This approach was tested in France, Germany and Italy to determine a critical ex-post diagnosis of the existing systems, and for the assessment of ex-ante innovative scenarios. The results will be used to support these case studies in the identification and design of more sustainable agricultural systems. Although the framework is based on feasible and proxy indicators, the assessment outcomes have allowed local actors to reflect on the effects generated by the implemented crop diversification strategies. Key issues include trade-offs occurring between optimizing economic and environmental performance.
Ileana Iocola; Frédérique Angevin; Christian Bockstaller; Rui Catarino; Michael Curran; Antoine Messéan; Christian Schader; Didier Stilmant; Florence Van Stappen; Paul Vanhove; Hauke Ahnemann; Jérémy Berthomier; Luca Colombo; Giovanni Dara Guccione; Emmanuel Mérot; Massimo Palumbo; Nino Virzì; Stefano Canali. An Actor-Oriented Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework to Support a Transition Towards Sustainable Agricultural Systems Based on Crop Diversification. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5434 .
AMA StyleIleana Iocola, Frédérique Angevin, Christian Bockstaller, Rui Catarino, Michael Curran, Antoine Messéan, Christian Schader, Didier Stilmant, Florence Van Stappen, Paul Vanhove, Hauke Ahnemann, Jérémy Berthomier, Luca Colombo, Giovanni Dara Guccione, Emmanuel Mérot, Massimo Palumbo, Nino Virzì, Stefano Canali. An Actor-Oriented Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework to Support a Transition Towards Sustainable Agricultural Systems Based on Crop Diversification. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (13):5434.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIleana Iocola; Frédérique Angevin; Christian Bockstaller; Rui Catarino; Michael Curran; Antoine Messéan; Christian Schader; Didier Stilmant; Florence Van Stappen; Paul Vanhove; Hauke Ahnemann; Jérémy Berthomier; Luca Colombo; Giovanni Dara Guccione; Emmanuel Mérot; Massimo Palumbo; Nino Virzì; Stefano Canali. 2020. "An Actor-Oriented Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework to Support a Transition Towards Sustainable Agricultural Systems Based on Crop Diversification." Sustainability 12, no. 13: 5434.
Unhealthy diets are commonly associated with increased disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from noncommunicable diseases. The association between DALYs and dietary patterns can be quantified with individual longitudinal data. This assessment, however, is often based on dietary data collected once at cohort entry, therefore reflecting the impact of “old” dietary habits on morbidity and mortality. To overcome this limitation, we tested the association of contemporary diets with DALYs. First, we defined contemporary dietary patterns consumed in Switzerland with the national nutrition survey menuCH (2014–2015). Second, we identified individuals who consumed similar diets in the NRP–MONICA census-linked cohort (1977–2015). In this cohort, individual data on disease and mortality were used to calculate the DALYs-dietary patterns association using a mixed regression model. A total of 58,771 DALYs from NCDs were recorded in a mean follow-up time of 25.5 years. After multivariable adjustments, the “Swiss traditional” pattern was not associated with an increase in DALYs compared to the “Prudent” pattern. However, individuals following a “Western” pattern had, on average 0.29 DALYs (95% CI 0.02, 0.56) more than those following a “Prudent” pattern, equating to a loss of healthy life of more than three months. These data highlight the feasibility of quantifying the impact of contemporary diets on DALYs without the establishment of new cohorts or the use of nationally aggregated data.
Jean-Philippe Krieger; Giulia Pestoni; Anita Frehner; Christian Schader; David Faeh; Sabine Rohrmann. Combining Recent Nutritional Data with Prospective Cohorts to Quantify the Impact of Modern Dietary Patterns on Disability–Adjusted Life Years: A Feasibility Study. Nutrients 2020, 12, 833 .
AMA StyleJean-Philippe Krieger, Giulia Pestoni, Anita Frehner, Christian Schader, David Faeh, Sabine Rohrmann. Combining Recent Nutritional Data with Prospective Cohorts to Quantify the Impact of Modern Dietary Patterns on Disability–Adjusted Life Years: A Feasibility Study. Nutrients. 2020; 12 (3):833.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJean-Philippe Krieger; Giulia Pestoni; Anita Frehner; Christian Schader; David Faeh; Sabine Rohrmann. 2020. "Combining Recent Nutritional Data with Prospective Cohorts to Quantify the Impact of Modern Dietary Patterns on Disability–Adjusted Life Years: A Feasibility Study." Nutrients 12, no. 3: 833.
Grazing systems emit greenhouse gases, which can, under specific agro-ecological conditions, be partly or entirely offset by soil carbon sequestration. However, any sequestration is time-limited, reversible, and at a global level outweighed by emissions from grazing systems. Thus, grazing systems are globally a net contributor to climate change and the time scale of key processes needs to be factored into any mitigation efforts. Failing to do so leads to unrealistic expectations of soil carbon management in grazing systems as a mitigation strategy. Protecting the large carbon stocks in grazing lands is also essential in order to avoid further climate change from additional CO2 release. Despite the time-limited and reversible nature of soil carbon sequestration in grazing lands, sequestration should be promoted in cases where it delivers environmental and agronomic benefits as well as for its potential, particularly on degraded land, to increase the feasibility of limiting global warming to less than 2 or preferably 1.5 °C. Some peer-reviewed sequestration estimates are of a similar order of magnitude to other food systems mitigation options over a 10–20 years period, such as reducing food loss and waste by 15% or aligning diets with current health related dietary-recommendations. However, caution should be applied to such comparisons since mitigation estimates are associated with large uncertainties and will ultimately depend on the economic cost-benefit relation, feasibility of implementation and time frame considered.
Cécile M. Godde; Imke J. M. De Boer; Erasmus Zu Ermgassen; Mario Herrero; Corina E. Van Middelaar; Adrian Muller; Elin Röös; Christian Schader; Pete Smith; Hannah H. E. Van Zanten; Tara Garnett. Soil carbon sequestration in grazing systems: managing expectations. Climatic Change 2020, 161, 385 -391.
AMA StyleCécile M. Godde, Imke J. M. De Boer, Erasmus Zu Ermgassen, Mario Herrero, Corina E. Van Middelaar, Adrian Muller, Elin Röös, Christian Schader, Pete Smith, Hannah H. E. Van Zanten, Tara Garnett. Soil carbon sequestration in grazing systems: managing expectations. Climatic Change. 2020; 161 (3):385-391.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCécile M. Godde; Imke J. M. De Boer; Erasmus Zu Ermgassen; Mario Herrero; Corina E. Van Middelaar; Adrian Muller; Elin Röös; Christian Schader; Pete Smith; Hannah H. E. Van Zanten; Tara Garnett. 2020. "Soil carbon sequestration in grazing systems: managing expectations." Climatic Change 161, no. 3: 385-391.
Many farm sustainability assessments use multi-criteria methods for aggregating indicators based on performance scores and importance weights. One of these is the SMART-Farm Tool, which measures the degree of goal achievement of farms across 327 indicators nested within 4 sustainability dimensions, 21 themes and 58 sub-themes of the FAO-SAFA Guidelines (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture). This study aims to improve the empirical foundation of the SMART-Farm Tool by (i) evaluating the uncertainty of indicator weights obtained via expert opinion and (ii) integrating this uncertainty into SMART assessment results. An adapted Delphi process was implemented, involving a group of 67 experts from 21 countries divided into thematic and regional sub-groups. Experts within each sub-group rated the importance of indicators of all 58 SAFA sub-themes, and self-assessed their own competence. Contrary to expectations, the uncertainty in expert opinions was relatively high for environmental indicator weights (although lowest for animal welfare), being comparable to social and governance indicators. Considerable uncertainty remained in indicator weights, even after two rounds of discussion and exchange of views. This is attributed to regional variation and inherent system complexity (i.e. experts having legitimate but diverging viewpoints based on contradictory evidence) rather than scientific ignorance (i.e. a lack of research evidence). Nevertheless, it is expected that the levels of uncertainty could be reduced by limiting the number of indicators to be evaluated and thus by allowing for more in-depth discussions among the experts. Monte Carlo Simulations were used to translate residual indicator weight uncertainty into SMART assessment results at the farm level for four example farms from both developed and developing countries. The resulting comparisons revealed several cases where substantial apparent differences between farms in sustainability scores for a specific sub-theme (up to 23%) were not statistically significant, while in other cases differences of 5% were significant. This emphasizes the general importance of considering uncertainty in multi-criteria assessment tools, with clear implications real-world applications, such as product certification, labelling and marketing. Finally, this study provides important methodological suggestions for implementing expert-based assessments in multi-criteria assessments efficiently.
Christian Schader; Michael Curran; Anja Heidenreich; Jan Landert; Johan Blockeel; Lukas Baumgart; Brian Ssebunya; Simon Moakes; Silvia Marton; Gianna Lazzarini; Urs Niggli; Matthias Stolze. Accounting for uncertainty in multi-criteria sustainability assessments at the farm level: Improving the robustness of the SMART-Farm Tool. Ecological Indicators 2019, 106, 105503 .
AMA StyleChristian Schader, Michael Curran, Anja Heidenreich, Jan Landert, Johan Blockeel, Lukas Baumgart, Brian Ssebunya, Simon Moakes, Silvia Marton, Gianna Lazzarini, Urs Niggli, Matthias Stolze. Accounting for uncertainty in multi-criteria sustainability assessments at the farm level: Improving the robustness of the SMART-Farm Tool. Ecological Indicators. 2019; 106 ():105503.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristian Schader; Michael Curran; Anja Heidenreich; Jan Landert; Johan Blockeel; Lukas Baumgart; Brian Ssebunya; Simon Moakes; Silvia Marton; Gianna Lazzarini; Urs Niggli; Matthias Stolze. 2019. "Accounting for uncertainty in multi-criteria sustainability assessments at the farm level: Improving the robustness of the SMART-Farm Tool." Ecological Indicators 106, no. : 105503.
From a public health perspective, determinants of diets are crucial to identify, but they remain unclear in Switzerland. Hence, we sought to define current dietary patterns and their sociodemographic and lifestyle determinants using the national nutrition survey menuCH (2014–2015, n = 2057). First, we applied multiple factorial analysis and hierarchical clustering on the energy-standardised daily consumption of 17 food categories. Four dietary patterns were identified (“Swiss traditional”: high intakes of dairy products and chocolate, n = 744; “Western 1”: soft drinks and meat, n = 383; “Western 2”: alcohol, meat and starchy, n = 444; and “Prudent”: n = 486). Second, we used multinomial logistic regression to examine the determinants of the four dietary patterns: ten sociodemographic or lifestyle factors (sex, age, body mass index, language region, nationality, marital status, income, physical activity, smoking status, and being on a weight-loss diet) were significantly associated with the dietary patterns. Notably, belonging to the French- and Italian-speaking regions of Switzerland increased the odds of following a “Prudent” diet (Odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 1.92 [1.45–2.53] and 1.68 [0.98–2.90], respectively) compared to the German-speaking regions. Our findings highlight the influence of sociodemographic and lifestyle parameters on diet and the particularities of the language regions of Switzerland. These results provide the basis for public health interventions targeted for population subgroups.
Jean-Philippe Krieger; Giulia Pestoni; Sophie Cabaset; Christine Brombach; Janice Sych; Christian Schader; David Faeh; Sabine Rohrmann. Dietary Patterns and Their Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Determinants in Switzerland: Results from the National Nutrition Survey menuCH. Nutrients 2018, 11, 62 .
AMA StyleJean-Philippe Krieger, Giulia Pestoni, Sophie Cabaset, Christine Brombach, Janice Sych, Christian Schader, David Faeh, Sabine Rohrmann. Dietary Patterns and Their Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Determinants in Switzerland: Results from the National Nutrition Survey menuCH. Nutrients. 2018; 11 (1):62.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJean-Philippe Krieger; Giulia Pestoni; Sophie Cabaset; Christine Brombach; Janice Sych; Christian Schader; David Faeh; Sabine Rohrmann. 2018. "Dietary Patterns and Their Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Determinants in Switzerland: Results from the National Nutrition Survey menuCH." Nutrients 11, no. 1: 62.
A. Muller; M. Meier; C. Schader; A. Gattinger; M. Steffens. Measuring and improving the environmental performance of organic farming. Managing soil health for sustainable agriculture Volume 1 2018, 365 -382.
AMA StyleA. Muller, M. Meier, C. Schader, A. Gattinger, M. Steffens. Measuring and improving the environmental performance of organic farming. Managing soil health for sustainable agriculture Volume 1. 2018; ():365-382.
Chicago/Turabian StyleA. Muller; M. Meier; C. Schader; A. Gattinger; M. Steffens. 2018. "Measuring and improving the environmental performance of organic farming." Managing soil health for sustainable agriculture Volume 1 , no. : 365-382.
Michael Blümmel; A. Muller; C. Schader; M. Herrero; M. R. Garg; Eth Zürich Switzerland; Switzerland Eth Zürich. The use and abuse of cereals, legumes and crop residues in rations for dairy cattle. Achieving sustainable cultivation of cocoa 2017, 273 -294.
AMA StyleMichael Blümmel, A. Muller, C. Schader, M. Herrero, M. R. Garg, Eth Zürich Switzerland, Switzerland Eth Zürich. The use and abuse of cereals, legumes and crop residues in rations for dairy cattle. Achieving sustainable cultivation of cocoa. 2017; ():273-294.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMichael Blümmel; A. Muller; C. Schader; M. Herrero; M. R. Garg; Eth Zürich Switzerland; Switzerland Eth Zürich. 2017. "The use and abuse of cereals, legumes and crop residues in rations for dairy cattle." Achieving sustainable cultivation of cocoa , no. : 273-294.
Introduction: In NFP69 project on “Sustainable and healthy diets: Trade-offs and synergies”, we aim to look at intersection of diets, sustainable food systems and healthy nutrition. We examine how healthy diets support or contradict with sustainability in the Swiss food system. Objectives: We obtained opinion of Swiss key stakeholders on possible push and pull factors of health, nutrition and sustainable food system. It was the aim to discuss results of two literature reviews on “push-pull factors of diet and health” and “food trends” with experts. Methods: We conducted 10 qualitative expert interviews on 4 topics: nutrition – health, sustainable food systems, food trends, impact of interviewees institution. Interviewees were members of ministries, scientists, consumer organizations, producers, retailers, health care system, medical doctors, marketing researchers; representing French and German speaking part of Switzerland. Duration of interviews was 50 – 90 minutes. Interviews were tape recorded, excerpts analysed by qualitative content analysis according to Mayring (1991). Results: Experts agreed a) nutrition has major impact on health and environment b) consumption of meat products will have to be reduced, c) the Swiss population will have to adapt to changing supply. Regional food, convenience food, vegetarian food trends were seen as most common food trends. There was dissent on which percentage Swiss population will follow vegetarian dietary pattern in future, how to influence eating behaviour of the Swiss Society. While scientists opted for better education, self-responsibility; representatives of ministries, consumer organization and health care opted for policy regulations, improvement of nutrition profiles of food or implementation of taxes or subsidies by the government. Conclusion: Stakeholders and experts expect that there will be many changes and challenges in the Swiss agricultural food system in the years ahead. Both experts and stakeholders agree that the Swiss society will have to be prepared for such challenges. In this NFP69, the authors hope to contribute to find answers and ideas as to how to best face future challenges for the Swiss agricultural food system. References: Mayring, Philipp: Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. In: Flick, Uwe (Ed.); Kardoff, Ernst von (Ed.); Keupp, Heiner (Ed.); Rosenstiel, Lutz von (Ed.); Wolff, Stephan (Ed.): Handbuch qualitative Forschung: Grundlagen, Konzepte, Methoden und Anwendungen. München: Beltz – Psychologie Verl. Union, 1991. Disclosure of Interest: None declared.
C Brombach; S Flückiger; S Rohrmann; J Sych; M Stolze; B Kopainsky; C Nathani; A Müller; R Frischknecht; C Schader. EXPERTS' OPINION ABOUT THE INTERACTION OF SUSTAINABLE NUTRITION, HEALTH AND FUTURE OF AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS IN SWITZERLAND. Nutrition 2017 – Ernährung: eine multiprofessionelle Herausforderung 2017, 42, PP-54 .
AMA StyleC Brombach, S Flückiger, S Rohrmann, J Sych, M Stolze, B Kopainsky, C Nathani, A Müller, R Frischknecht, C Schader. EXPERTS' OPINION ABOUT THE INTERACTION OF SUSTAINABLE NUTRITION, HEALTH AND FUTURE OF AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS IN SWITZERLAND. Nutrition 2017 – Ernährung: eine multiprofessionelle Herausforderung. 2017; 42 (03):PP-54.
Chicago/Turabian StyleC Brombach; S Flückiger; S Rohrmann; J Sych; M Stolze; B Kopainsky; C Nathani; A Müller; R Frischknecht; C Schader. 2017. "EXPERTS' OPINION ABOUT THE INTERACTION OF SUSTAINABLE NUTRITION, HEALTH AND FUTURE OF AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS IN SWITZERLAND." Nutrition 2017 – Ernährung: eine multiprofessionelle Herausforderung 42, no. 03: PP-54.
A growing number of people live in cities. Urban food systems and their impacts on ecosystems and socio-economic conditions are becoming increasingly important. To address the challenge of making urban food systems more sustainable, a rising number of assessments of urban food systems have been published. Some used large quantitative datasets while others were descriptive in nature and/or do not address the whole thematic spectrum of sustainability. In this study, an indicator set was developed, which uses widely available data to address all dimensions of sustainability. The indicators focus on policies and measures of public administration and local politics and are based on the guidelines for Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). To operationalize the SAFA-Guidelines, we developed, in a participatory process, a multi-criteria assessment method with 97 indicators for evaluating 51 of the 58 SAFA subthemes, which were deemed relevant for the context of an urban food system. The first application of this method in the city of Basel, Switzerland, revealed concrete areas of improvement relating to the sustainability of the food system. In combination with cost-effectives analysis, stakeholder consultation, and monitoring measures, the results of the assessment method can be used to initiate the process of moving towards more sustainable urban food systems.
Jan Landert; Christian Schader; Heidrun Moschitz; Matthias Stolze. A Holistic Sustainability Assessment Method for Urban Food System Governance. Sustainability 2017, 9, 490 .
AMA StyleJan Landert, Christian Schader, Heidrun Moschitz, Matthias Stolze. A Holistic Sustainability Assessment Method for Urban Food System Governance. Sustainability. 2017; 9 (4):490.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJan Landert; Christian Schader; Heidrun Moschitz; Matthias Stolze. 2017. "A Holistic Sustainability Assessment Method for Urban Food System Governance." Sustainability 9, no. 4: 490.
When trying to optimize the sustainability performance of farms and farming systems, a consideration of trade-offs and synergies between different themes and dimensions is required. The aim of this paper is to perform a systematic analysis of trade-offs and synergies across all dimensions and themes. To achieve this aim we used the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment Routine (SMART)-Farm Tool which operationalizes the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) Guidelines by defining science-based indicator sets and assessment procedures. It identifies the degree of goal achievement with respect to the 58 themes defined in the SAFA Guidelines using an impact matrix that defines 327 indicators and 1769 relations between sustainability themes and indicators. We illustrate how the SMART-Farm Tool can be successfully applied to assess the sustainability performance of farms of different types and in different geographic regions. Our analysis revealed important synergies between themes within a sustainability dimension and across dimensions. We found major trade-offs within the environmental dimension and between the environmental and economic dimension. The trade-offs within the environmental dimension were even larger than the trade-offs with other dimensions. The study also underlines the importance of the governance dimension with regard to achieving a good level of performance in the other dimensions.
Christian Schader; Lukas Baumgart; Jan Landert; Adrian Muller; Brian Ssebunya; Johan Blockeel; Rainer Weisshaidinger; Richard Petrasek; Dóra Mészáros; Susanne Padel; Catherine Gerrard; Laurence Smith; Thomas Lindenthal; Urs Niggli; Matthias Stolze. Using the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment Routine (SMART) for the Systematic Analysis of Trade-Offs and Synergies between Sustainability Dimensions and Themes at Farm Level. Sustainability 2016, 8, 274 .
AMA StyleChristian Schader, Lukas Baumgart, Jan Landert, Adrian Muller, Brian Ssebunya, Johan Blockeel, Rainer Weisshaidinger, Richard Petrasek, Dóra Mészáros, Susanne Padel, Catherine Gerrard, Laurence Smith, Thomas Lindenthal, Urs Niggli, Matthias Stolze. Using the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment Routine (SMART) for the Systematic Analysis of Trade-Offs and Synergies between Sustainability Dimensions and Themes at Farm Level. Sustainability. 2016; 8 (3):274.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristian Schader; Lukas Baumgart; Jan Landert; Adrian Muller; Brian Ssebunya; Johan Blockeel; Rainer Weisshaidinger; Richard Petrasek; Dóra Mészáros; Susanne Padel; Catherine Gerrard; Laurence Smith; Thomas Lindenthal; Urs Niggli; Matthias Stolze. 2016. "Using the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment Routine (SMART) for the Systematic Analysis of Trade-Offs and Synergies between Sustainability Dimensions and Themes at Farm Level." Sustainability 8, no. 3: 274.
Increasing efficiency in livestock production and reducing the share of animal products in human consumption are two strategies to curb the adverse environmental impacts of the livestock sector. Here, we explore the room for sustainable livestock production by modelling the impacts and constraints of a third strategy in which livestock feed components that compete with direct human food crop production are reduced. Thus, in the outmost scenario, animals are fed only from grassland and by-products from food production. We show that this strategy could provide sufficient food (equal amounts of human-digestible energy and a similar protein/calorie ratio as in the reference scenario for 2050) and reduce environmental impacts compared with the reference scenario (in the most extreme case of zero human-edible concentrate feed: greenhouse gas emissions −18%; arable land occupation −26%, N-surplus −46%; P-surplus −40%; non-renewable energy use −36%, pesticide use intensity −22%, freshwater use −21%, soil erosion potential −12%). These results occur despite the fact that environmental efficiency of livestock production is reduced compared with the reference scenario, which is the consequence of the grassland-based feed for ruminants and the less optimal feeding rations based on by-products for non-ruminants. This apparent contradiction results from considerable reductions of animal products in human diets (protein intake per capita from livestock products reduced by 71%). We show that such a strategy focusing on feed components which do not compete with direct human food consumption offers a viable complement to strategies focusing on increased efficiency in production or reduced shares of animal products in consumption.
Christian Schader; Adrian Muller; Nadia El-Hage Scialabba; Judith Hecht; Anne Isensee; Karl-Heinz Erb; Pete Smith; Harinder P. S. Makkar; Peter Klocke; Florian Leiber; Patrizia Schwegler; Matthias Stolze; Urs Niggli. Impacts of feeding less food-competing feedstuffs to livestock on global food system sustainability. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 2015, 12, 20150891 .
AMA StyleChristian Schader, Adrian Muller, Nadia El-Hage Scialabba, Judith Hecht, Anne Isensee, Karl-Heinz Erb, Pete Smith, Harinder P. S. Makkar, Peter Klocke, Florian Leiber, Patrizia Schwegler, Matthias Stolze, Urs Niggli. Impacts of feeding less food-competing feedstuffs to livestock on global food system sustainability. Journal of The Royal Society Interface. 2015; 12 (113):20150891.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristian Schader; Adrian Muller; Nadia El-Hage Scialabba; Judith Hecht; Anne Isensee; Karl-Heinz Erb; Pete Smith; Harinder P. S. Makkar; Peter Klocke; Florian Leiber; Patrizia Schwegler; Matthias Stolze; Urs Niggli. 2015. "Impacts of feeding less food-competing feedstuffs to livestock on global food system sustainability." Journal of The Royal Society Interface 12, no. 113: 20150891.
Comprehensive assessment tools are needed that reliably describe environmental impacts of different agricultural systems in order to develop sustainable high yielding agricultural production systems with minimal impacts on the environment. Today, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly used to assess and compare the environmental sustainability of agricultural products from conventional and organic agriculture. However, LCA studies comparing agricultural products from conventional and organic farming systems report a wide variation in the resource efficiency of products from these systems. The studies show that impacts per area farmed land are usually less in organic systems, but related to the quantity produced impacts are often higher. We reviewed 34 comparative LCA studies of organic and conventional agricultural products to analyze whether this result is solely due to the usually lower yields in organic systems or also due to inaccurate modeling within LCA. Comparative LCAs on agricultural products from organic and conventional farming systems often do not adequately differentiate the specific characteristics of the respective farming system in the goal and scope definition and in the inventory analysis. Further, often only a limited number of impact categories are assessed within the impact assessment not allowing for a comprehensive environmental assessment. The most critical points we identified relate to the nitrogen (N) fluxes influencing acidification, eutrophication, and global warming potential, and biodiversity. Usually, N-emissions in LCA inventories of agricultural products are based on model calculations. Modeled N-emissions often do not correspond with the actual amount of N left in the system that may result in potential emissions. Reasons for this may be that N-models are not well adapted to the mode of action of organic fertilizers and that N-emission models often are built on assumptions from conventional agriculture leading to even greater deviances for organic systems between the amount of N calculated by emission models and the actual amount of N available for emissions. Improvements are needed regarding a more precise differentiation between farming systems and regarding the development of N emission models that better represent actual N-fluxes within different systems. We recommend adjusting N- and C-emissions during farmyard manure management and farmyard manure fertilization in plant production to the feed ration provided in the animal production of the respective farming system leading to different N- and C-compositions within the excrement. In the future, more representative background data on organic farming systems (e.g. N content of farmyard manure) should be generated and compiled so as to be available for use within LCA inventories. Finally, we recommend conducting consequential LCA - if possible - when using LCA for policy-making or strategic environmental planning to account for different functions of the analyzed farming systems.
Matthias S. Meier; Franziska Stoessel; Niels Jungbluth; Ronnie Juraske; Christian Schader; Matthias Stolze. Environmental impacts of organic and conventional agricultural products – Are the differences captured by life cycle assessment? Journal of Environmental Management 2015, 149, 193 -208.
AMA StyleMatthias S. Meier, Franziska Stoessel, Niels Jungbluth, Ronnie Juraske, Christian Schader, Matthias Stolze. Environmental impacts of organic and conventional agricultural products – Are the differences captured by life cycle assessment? Journal of Environmental Management. 2015; 149 ():193-208.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMatthias S. Meier; Franziska Stoessel; Niels Jungbluth; Ronnie Juraske; Christian Schader; Matthias Stolze. 2015. "Environmental impacts of organic and conventional agricultural products – Are the differences captured by life cycle assessment?" Journal of Environmental Management 149, no. : 193-208.
The Tinbergen Rule has been used to criticise multi-target policy instruments for being inefficient. The aim of this paper is to clarify the role of multi-target policy instruments using the case of agri-environmental policy. Employing an analytical linear optimisation model, this paper demonstrates that there is no general contradiction between multi-target policy instruments and the Tinbergen Rule, if multi-target policy instruments are embedded in a policy-mix with a sufficient number of targeted instruments. We show that the relation between cost-effectiveness of the instruments, related to all policy targets, is the key determinant for an economically sound choice of policy instruments. If economies of scope with respect to achieving policy targets are realised, a higher cost-effectiveness of multi-target policy instruments can be achieved. Using the example of organic farming support policy, we discuss several reasons why economies of scope could be realised by multi-target agri-environmental policy instruments
Christian Schader; Nicholas Lampkin; Adrian Muller; Matthias Stolze. The role of multi-target policy instruments in agri-environmental policy mixes. Journal of Environmental Management 2014, 145, 180 -190.
AMA StyleChristian Schader, Nicholas Lampkin, Adrian Muller, Matthias Stolze. The role of multi-target policy instruments in agri-environmental policy mixes. Journal of Environmental Management. 2014; 145 ():180-190.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristian Schader; Nicholas Lampkin; Adrian Muller; Matthias Stolze. 2014. "The role of multi-target policy instruments in agri-environmental policy mixes." Journal of Environmental Management 145, no. : 180-190.
The novel method developed for this study evaluates the impact of farming practices on farmland biodiversity, allowing for the assessment of the biodiversity potential of dairy farms at farm and product levels. We linked farming practices as pressure indicators to the species number and abundance of 11 indicator species groups (ISGs), evaluated semi-quantitatively by expert judgements. We calculated biodiversity potential based on food–web relationships between the ISGs, using Monte Carlo simulations for the analysis of uncertainty of expert assessments. We applied the assessment model to 8925 dairy farms from seven different Austrian regions, using official statistical data sets at farm level and interviews with farmers and experts. The results show that the approach can be used to identify differences in the biodiversity potential of farms and milk. Milk from organic farms received 4–79% higher biodiversity scores than milk from conventional farms in all regions. The application showed that in the case of Austrian dairy production, the approach can be used for assessments of both farms and products. However, the approach needs validation and, for product-level assessment, further development to cope with longer supply chains or compound products from different bio-geographic regions.
C. Schader; T. Drapela; T. Markut; M.S. Meier; T. Lindenthal; Stefan Hörtenhuber; L. Pfiffner. Farm- and product-level biodiversity assessment of conventional and organic dairy production in Austria. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management 2014, 10, 20 -39.
AMA StyleC. Schader, T. Drapela, T. Markut, M.S. Meier, T. Lindenthal, Stefan Hörtenhuber, L. Pfiffner. Farm- and product-level biodiversity assessment of conventional and organic dairy production in Austria. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management. 2014; 10 (1):20-39.
Chicago/Turabian StyleC. Schader; T. Drapela; T. Markut; M.S. Meier; T. Lindenthal; Stefan Hörtenhuber; L. Pfiffner. 2014. "Farm- and product-level biodiversity assessment of conventional and organic dairy production in Austria." International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management 10, no. 1: 20-39.
Schader, C., J. Grenz, M. S. Meier, and M. Stolze. 2014. Scope and precision of sustainability assessment approaches to food systems. Ecology and Society 19(3): 42.http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06866-190342
Christian Schader; Jan Grenz; Matthias S. Meier; Matthias Stolze. Scope and precision of sustainability assessment approaches to food systems. Ecology and Society 2014, 19, 1 .
AMA StyleChristian Schader, Jan Grenz, Matthias S. Meier, Matthias Stolze. Scope and precision of sustainability assessment approaches to food systems. Ecology and Society. 2014; 19 (3):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristian Schader; Jan Grenz; Matthias S. Meier; Matthias Stolze. 2014. "Scope and precision of sustainability assessment approaches to food systems." Ecology and Society 19, no. 3: 1.
As a typical cradle-to-cradle approach, organic farming suits the notion of a green technology. However, a generally valid quantification of the environmental performance of organic agriculture is difficult because there is a high variability between countries, regions, farm types, and products. Furthermore, different assessment methods lead to partly contradicting conclusions on the environmental impacts of organic farming. This chapter gives an overview on the environmental impacts of organic agriculture compared with those of conventional agriculture based on state-of-the-art literature and discusses methodological implications for the comparison of environmental impacts of farming systems. According to most of the reviewed literature organic farming performs better in terms of biodiversity, soil fertility and air quality, mitigating resource depletion, climate change mitigation, and groundwater pollution as compared with conventional agriculture. However, there are single environmental indicators in some of the above-mentioned fields, against which organic agriculture performs equally or even worse (N2O emissions and CH4 emissions per unit of product produced), depending on the assumptions and methodology of the study. Finally, this paper highlights nine common methodological problems of quantifying environmental impacts of farming systems that have been identified in the reviewed literature and suggests solutions for improvement.
Christian Schader; Matthias Stolze; Andreas Gattinger. Environmental performance of organic farming. Engineering Foods for Bioactives Stability and Delivery 2011, 183 -210.
AMA StyleChristian Schader, Matthias Stolze, Andreas Gattinger. Environmental performance of organic farming. Engineering Foods for Bioactives Stability and Delivery. 2011; ():183-210.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristian Schader; Matthias Stolze; Andreas Gattinger. 2011. "Environmental performance of organic farming." Engineering Foods for Bioactives Stability and Delivery , no. : 183-210.
Societal demand for the multifunctionality of agriculture was analysed in four case-study regions by studying stakeholders’ perceptions of regional priorities. We used the Stakeholder Delphi Approach, which is a qualitative, two-step procedure, based on revealed preferences of a principal consisting of stakeholders and experts from the regions. The results of our case studies imply that demand for functions of agriculture is generally strong. Comparing the priorities among the case studies, we found different demand patterns in each region. Further discussion of the Wielkopolska case study, with a production-focussed demand pattern, and the River Gudenå case study, with a post-productivist pattern, illustrates the regional characteristics that have shaped the distinct demand pattern in these regions.
Christian Schader; Heidrun Moschitz; Chris Kjeldsen; Jakub Wasilewski; Matthias Stolze. Societal Demand for Commodity and Non-commodity Outputs – A Regional Perspective. Rural Landscapes and Agricultural Policies in Europe 2009, 53 -72.
AMA StyleChristian Schader, Heidrun Moschitz, Chris Kjeldsen, Jakub Wasilewski, Matthias Stolze. Societal Demand for Commodity and Non-commodity Outputs – A Regional Perspective. Rural Landscapes and Agricultural Policies in Europe. 2009; ():53-72.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristian Schader; Heidrun Moschitz; Chris Kjeldsen; Jakub Wasilewski; Matthias Stolze. 2009. "Societal Demand for Commodity and Non-commodity Outputs – A Regional Perspective." Rural Landscapes and Agricultural Policies in Europe , no. : 53-72.