Guiding Sustainability by a Sustainable Agriculture Matrix

Sustainable agriculture is fundamental to achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the pathways to sustainable agriculture and the way to measure it remain elusive, in part because the biophysical and socio-economic sustainability of agriculture is not yet sufficiently integrated. Furthermore, there are complex and regionally diverse trade-offs between the agriculture-related SDGs, but few studies or tools to explore and understand these trade-offs at the national to global level, and to develop strategies for sustainable agriculture. This gap needs to be closed. Building on the global indicator system SAM (Sustainable Agricultural Matrix for measuring sustainability in agriculture) and the database developed so far, an international consortium consisting of experts from the natural and social sciences as well as stakeholders such as farmers, non-governmental organisations, industry and policy makers is focusing on application at national and sub-national level.