Agricultural Sustainability: A Review of Concepts and Methods

Maria G. Lampridi, Claus G. Sørensen and Dionysis Bochtis
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Maria G. Lampridi: Center for Research & Technology Hellas—CERTH, Institute for Bio-economy and Agri-technology—iBO, 10th km Thessalonikis—Thermis, BALKAN Center, BLDG D, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
Claus G. Sørensen: Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Finlandsgade 22, DK8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
Dionysis Bochtis: Center for Research & Technology Hellas—CERTH, Institute for Bio-economy and Agri-technology—iBO, 10th km Thessalonikis—Thermis, BALKAN Center, BLDG D, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 18, 1-27

Abstract: This paper presents a methodological framework for the systematic literature review of agricultural sustainability studies. The framework synthesizes all the available literature review criteria and introduces a two-level analysis facilitating systematization, data mining, and methodology analysis. The framework was implemented for the systematic literature review of 38 crop agricultural sustainability assessment studies at farm-level for the last decade. The investigation of the methodologies used is of particular importance since there are no standards or norms for the sustainability assessment of farming practices. The chronological analysis revealed that the scientific community’s interest in agricultural sustainability is increasing in the last three years. The most used methods include indicator-based tools, frameworks, and indexes, followed by multicriteria methods. In the reviewed studies, stakeholder participation is proved crucial in the determination of the level of sustainability. It should also be mentioned that combinational use of methodologies is often observed, thus a clear distinction of methodologies is not always possible.

Keywords: agricultural sustainability; sustainability assessment; review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (29)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:18:p:5120-:d:268509

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