Assessing farming systems in transition to agroecology

In light of the high environmental ambitions of the European Union (EU), it is imperative to monitor and better understand the agroecological transition of EU agriculture and its effects on all sustainability dimensions in order to tap its full potential. Two H2020 research projects, LIFT and UNISECO, analysed the agroecological transition of farming systems in the EU. Both projects use ecological classification systems (typologies) and performance indicators to assess farms depending on their degree of implemented agroecological practices. Results are visualised with spider web diagrams to unveil synergies and trade-offs within and between economic, environmental and social sustainability dimensions. The two projects’ approaches differ in terms of data requirements, scale and scope of indicators, but provide complementary insights. The LIFT approach is applicable to data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), a representative sample of EU agriculture, focused on large-scale monitoring of farm income and business activities, but can also be used with further data sources and flexibly adjusted to different spatial scales (NUTS regions, countries, EU). In UNISECO, sustainability assessment tools were applied in 15 case studies across Europe. Among them is the SMART Farm Tool. It is based on the guidelines for the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) from the FAO and covers a wide range of topics with over 300 indicators