Livestock farming eco-efficiency analysis: a systematic literature review of frontier approaches for sustainability assessment

Kofivi Dzegle (), Aude Ridier () and Isabelle Piot-Lepetit ()
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Kofivi Dzegle: SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement
Aude Ridier: SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement
Isabelle Piot-Lepetit: UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement

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Abstract: Assessing both the economic and environmental efficiency, or eco-efficiency, of farms is essential for informing sustainability in agriculture. This article presents a systematic review of the literature on frontier approaches to assessing the eco-efficiency of livestock farming, with a focus on their integration into the weak or strong sustainability paradigm. Using the PRISMA methodology, we analysed 98 articles from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, published between 1990 and 2025, that investigate the eco-efficiency of livestock farms. The results highlight a predominance of articles focusing on cattle farms (71%) and pig farms (21%), with particular attention to environmental indicators such as greenhouse (GHG) emissions and nitrogen surplus (55%). Positive environmental externalities are still underexplored in these articles and represent a promising area for further research. The approaches used to model the environment have evolved over time, from environmentally adjusted production efficiency (EAPE) models to by-production technology (BPT) models and from material balance-based (MB) models to frontier eco-efficiency (FEE) models. Although these approaches do not fully adhere to the strong sustainability paradigm, the BPT models stand out as the most promising for assessing eco-efficiency in agriculture, offering a more integrated approach.

Keywords: Undesirable outputs; Environmental goods; Eco-efficiency; Sustainability; Livestock farming (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-07-22
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Published in Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, 2026, ⟨10.1007/s41130-026-00260-9⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05701626

DOI: 10.1007/s41130-026-00260-9

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