Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Towards metrics of sustainable food systems: a review of the resilience and vulnerability literature

  • Review
  • Published:
Environment Systems and Decisions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Food and nutrition security is a persisting global issue and, in addition, food systems are now facing a new set of intersecting economic, social and environmental challenges. Recurrent socio-economic and biophysical changes put the sustainability of food systems at risk. There is an urgent need to develop knowledge-based tools to assess and monitor food sustainability and to identify pathways for food security and resource conservation. The systemic nature of these interactions calls for multidimensional approaches and integrated assessments for decision-making to guide change. This paper reviews social–ecological system frameworks with the view to conceptualize the sustainability issues that affect the food systems. It is argued that the understanding of the food systems as social–ecological systems, and inputs from the theories of vulnerability and resilience in particular, can provide the concepts necessary to understand and model the complex system dynamics involved in the multiple interactions between human and natural components.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The current definition of food security, used by FAO, IFAD and WFP, considers food security as “A situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Based on this definition, four food security dimensions can be identified: food availability, economic and physical access to food, food utilization and stability over time” (FAO, IFAD and WFP 2015).

  2. “The Double Burden of Malnutrition is the coexistence of undernutrition and overnutrition in the same population across the life course” (Shrimpton and Rokx 2012; p. ix).

  3. Namely climate change, economic concentration and market structure, financial power, resource competition, marginalization, property rules, geo-political shifts, consumer preferences, consumption patterns and nutritional transition.

  4. According to Redman (2014), “Sustainability science seeks to address the major challenges facing society while ensuring that human well-being is undiminished and the basic Earth systems continue to operate”.

  5. Sustainability problems can be identified as climate change, natural resources depletion, peak oil, market and political instability, etc.

References

  • Adger WN (2006) Vulnerability. Global Environ Change 16:268–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger WN, Kelly PM (1999) Social vulnerability to climate change and the architecture of entitlements. Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 4:253–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger WN, Arnell NW, Tompkins EL (2005) Successful adaptation to climate change across scales. Global Environ Change 15:77–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen T, Prosperi P (2014) Metrics of sustainable diets and food systems. Workshop report. November 4–5, 2014, Montpellier, France. Bioversity International & CIHEAM-IAMM. http://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/_migrated/uploads/tx_news/Metrics_of_sustainable_diets_and_food_systems_1882.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Allen T, Prosperi P, Cogill B, Flichman G (2014) Agricultural biodiversity, social–ecological systems and sustainable diets. Proc Nutr Soc 73:498–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderies JM, Janssen MA (2013) Robustness of social–ecological systems: implications for public policy. Policy Stud J 41:513–536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bausch JC, Bojórquez-Tapia L, Eakin H (2014) Agro-environmental sustainability assessment using multicriteria decision analysis and system analysis. Sustain Sci 9:303–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beddington JR, Asaduzzaman M, Clark ME, Bremauntz AF, Guillou MD, Jahn MM, Lin E, Mamo T, Negra C, Nobre CA, Scholes RJ, Scharma R, Van Bo N, Wakhungu J (2012) The role for scientists in tackling food insecurity and climate change. Agric Food Secur 1:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell S, Morse S (2010) The role of Sustainability Indicators within evidence-based policy for sustainable development in the European Union. Paper presented at the 16th annual international sustainable development research conference. 30 May–01 June 2010. Hong Kong, PRC. http://oro.open.ac.uk/24614/1/_ISDRC_16_~_Bell_and_Morse_HK_RoI_Paper_F.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Bennett E, Cumming G, Peterson G (2005) A systems model approach to determining resilience surrogates for case studies. Ecosystems 8:945–957

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkes F, Folke C (1998) Linking social and ecological systems for resilience and sustainability. http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/4352/Berkes-linking_social_and_ecological_systems_for_resilience_and_sustainability.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Berkes F, Colding J, Folke C (2003) Navigating social–ecological systems: building resilience for complexity and change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Binder CR, Hinkel J, Bots PW, Pahl-Wostl C (2013) Comparison of frameworks for analyzing social–ecological systems. Ecol Soc 18(4). http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol18/iss4/art26/. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Bioversity International, CIHEAM-IAMM (2014) Identifying appropriate Metrics of Sustainable Diets and Food Systems: a Delphi expert consultation. Technical Brief 1.0-2014. Montpellier, France: Bioversity International & CIHEAM. http://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/user_upload/research/research_portfolio/Diet_diversity/Montpellier/Technical_Brief__Mar_14_.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Brunori G, Guarino A (2010) Security for whom? Changing discourses on food in Europe in times of a global food crisis. In: Lawrence G et al (eds) Food security, nutrition and sustainability. Earthscan, London, pp 41–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunori G, Jiggins J, Gallardo R, Schmidt O (2008) New challenges for agricultural research: climate change, food security, rural development, agricultural knowledge systems. The 2nd SCAR Foresight Exercise. European Commission, Brussel

  • Cabell JF, Oelofse M (2012) An indicator framework for assessing agroecosystem resilience. Ecol Soc 17(1). http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol17/iss1/art18/. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Callo-Concha D (2014) Approaches to managing disturbance and change: resilience, vulnerability and adaptability, ZEF Working Paper Series, 133. http://www.zef.de/uploads/tx_zefportal/Publications/ZEF_Working_Paper_133_02.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Carpenter S, Walker B, Anderies JM, Abel N (2001) From metaphor to measurement: resilience of what to what? Ecosystems 4:765–781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter S, Bennett EM, Peterson GD (2006) Scenarios for ecosystem services: an overview. Ecol Soc 11(1). http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art29/. Accessed 21 Sept 2015.

  • Carpenter S, Folke C, Scheffer M, Westley F (2009) Resilience: accounting for the noncomputable’, Ecol Soc 14(1). http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss1/art13/. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Carpenter S, Stanley EH, Vander Zanden MJ (2011) State of the world's freshwater ecosystems: physical, chemical, and biological changes. Annu Rev Env Resour 36:75–99

  • Challinor A, Wheeler T, Garforth C, Craufurd P, Kassam A (2007) Assessing the vulnerability of food crop systems in Africa to climate change. Clim Change 83:381–399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chelleri L, Olazabal M (2012) Multidisciplinary perspectives on urban resilience: a workshop report. Basque Cent Clim Change, Bilbao

    Google Scholar 

  • Ciurean RL, Schroeter D, Glade T (2013) Conceptual frameworks of vulnerability assessments for natural disasters reduction. In: Tiefenbacher J (ed) Approaches to disaster management e examining the implications of hazards, emergencies and disasters. InTech, Rijeka, pp 3–32. http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/42656.pdf. Accessed 04 Jan 2016

  • Clark WC, Dickson NM (2003) Sustainability science: the emerging research program. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:8059–8061

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Conway G (1985) Agroecosystem analysis. Agric Admin Ext 20:31–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Conway G (2007) A doubly Green Revolution: ecology and food production. In: May RM, McLean AR (eds) Theoretical ecology: principles and applications. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 158–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Conway G, Barbier E (1990) After the Green Revolution: sustainable agriculture for development. Earthscan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Cordell D, Neset TS (2014) Phosphorus vulnerability: a qualitative framework for assessing the vulnerability of national and regional food systems to the multi-dimensional stressors of phosphorus scarcity. Global Environ Change 24:108–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cummins S, Petticrew M, Higgins C, Findlay A, Sparks L (2005) Large scale food retailing as an intervention for diet and health: quasi-experimental evaluation of a natural experiment. J Epidemiol Commun Health 59:1035–1040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutter SL, Barnes L, Berry M, Burton C, Evans E, Tate E, Webb J (2008) A place-based model for understanding community resilience to natural disasters. Global Environ Change 18:598–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Lange HJ, Sala S, Vighi M, Faber JH (2010) Ecological vulnerability in risk assessment: a review and perspectives. Sci Total Environ 408:3871–3879

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Downing TE, Patwardhan A (2005) Assessing vulnerability for climate adaptation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Eakin H (2010) What is Vulnerable? In: Ingram J et al (eds) Food security and global environmental change. Earthscan, London, pp 78–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Elmqvist T et al (eds) (2013) Urbanization, biodiversity and ecosystem services: Challenges and opportunities. Springer, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein G, Vogt JM, Mincey SK, Cox M, Fischer B (2013) Missing ecology: integrating ecological perspectives with the social–ecological system framework. Int J Commons 7:432–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericksen P (2006) Assessing the vulnerability of food systems to global environmental change: a conceptual and methodological review. GECAFS Working Paper, 3. http://www.gecafs.org/publications/Publications/GECAFS_Working_Paper_3_Ericksen_July_2006.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Ericksen P (2008a) Conceptualizing food systems for global environmental change research. Global Environ Change 18:234–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericksen P (2008b) Global environmental change and food security. Global Change News Letter, 71. http://www.gecafs.org/publications/Publications/Global_Environmental_Change_%26_Food_Security.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Ericksen P (2008c) What is the vulnerability of a food system to global environmental change. Ecol Soc 13(2). http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art14/. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Ericksen P (2014) Vulnerability of food security to global change. In: Freedman B (ed) Global environmental change. Springer, Netherlands, pp 677–680

    Google Scholar 

  • Ericksen P, Woodley E (2005) Using multiple knowledge systems: benefits and challenges, Chapter 5, Ecosystems and human well-being: sub-global, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. http://www.unep.org/maweb/documents/document.343.aspx.pdf. Accessed 21 September 2015

  • Ericksen P, Ingram J, Liverman DM (2009) Food security and global environmental change: emerging challenges. Environ Sci Policy 12:373–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericksen P, Stewart B, Dixon J, Barling D, Loring P, Anderson M, Ingram J (2010) The value of a food system approach. In: Ingram J et al (eds) Food security and global environmental change. Earthscan, London, pp 25–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen SH, Kelly PM (2007) Developing credible vulnerability indicators for climate adaptation policy assessment. Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 12:495–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fanzo J (2014) Strengthening the engagement of food and health systems to improve nutrition security: Synthesis and overview of approaches to address malnutrition. Glob Food Sec 3:183–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fanzo J, Cogill B, Mattei F (2012) Metrics of sustainable diets and food systems. Bioversity Int. http://www.bioversityinternational.org/uploads/tx_news/Metrics_of_sustainable_diets_and_food_systems_1572.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • FAO, IFAD, WFP (2014) The State of food insecurity in the world: strengthening the enabling environment for food security and nutrition. FAO, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO, IFAD, WFP (2015) The state of food insecurity in the world 2015. Meeting the 2015 international hunger targets: taking stock of uneven progress. FAO, Rome

  • FAOSTAT (website) http://faostat3.fao.org/home/. Accessed 21 September 2015

  • Fletcher CS, Craig M, Hilbert DW (2006) Operationalizing resilience in Australian and New Zealand agroecosystems. Paper presented at the 50th annual meeting of the international society for the systems sciences, 09–14 July 2006, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California, USA. http://journals.isss.org/index.php/proceedings50th/article/view/355/133. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Folke C (2006) Resilience: the emergence of a perspective for social–ecological systems analyses. Global Environ Change 16:253–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folke C (2010) How resilient are ecosystems to global environmental change? Sustain Sci 5:151–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folke C, Carpenter S, Elmqvist T, Gunderson L, Holling CS, Walker B (2002) Resilience and sustainable development: building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations. AMBIO J Hum Environ 31:437–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foran T, Butler JR, Williams LJ, Wanjura WJ, Hall A, Carter L, Carberry PS (2014) Taking complexity in food systems seriously: an interdisciplinary analysis. World Dev 61:85–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser EDG (2003) Social vulnerability and ecological fragility: building bridges between social and natural sciences using the Irish Potato Famine as a case study. Conserv Ecol, 7(2). http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol7/iss2/art9/print.pdf. Accessed 21 September 2015

  • Fraser EDG (2006) Food system vulnerability: using past famines to help understand how food systems may adapt to climate change. Ecol Complex 3:328–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser EDG (2007) Travelling in antique lands: using past famines to develop an adaptability/resilience framework to identify food systems vulnerable to climate change. Clim Change 83:495–514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Funtowicz SO, Ravetz JR (1993) Science for the post-normal age. Futures 25:739–755

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Füssel HM (2007) Vulnerability: a generally applicable conceptual framework for climate change research. Global Environ Change 17:155–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Füssel HM, Klein RJ (2006) Climate change vulnerability assessments: an evolution of conceptual thinking. Clim Change 75:301–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallopín GC (2006) Linkages between vulnerability, resilience, and adaptive capacity. Global Environ Change 16:293–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallopín GC, Funtowicz S, O’Connor M, Ravetz J (2001) Science for the twenty-first century: from social contract to the scientific core. Int Soc Sci J 53:219–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garrett JL, Ruel MT (2003) Stunted child-overweight mother pairs: an emerging policy concern? IFPRI FCND discussion paper, 148. http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/fcndp148.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Gbetibouo GA, Ringler C, Hassan R (2010) Vulnerability of the South African farming sector to climate change and variability: an indicator approach. Nat Resour Forum 34:175–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerber A (2014) Food security as an outcome of food systems. Paper presented at the 32nd international conference of the system dynamics society. 20–24 July 2014, Delft, The Netherlands. http://www.systemdynamics.org/conferences/2014/proceed/papers/P1113.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Godfray HCJ, Beddington JR, Crute IR, Haddad L, Lawrence D, Muir JF, Pretty J, Robinson S, Thomas SM, Toulmin C (2010) Food security: the challenge of feeding 9 billion people. Science 327:812–818

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gorton D, Bullen CR, Mhurchu CN (2010) Environmental influences on food security in high-income countries. Nutr Rev 68:1–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory PJ, Ingram J, Brklacich M (2005) Climate change and food security. Philos Trans R Soc B 360:2139–2148

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gunderson LH, Holling CS (2002) Panarchy: understanding transformations in systems of humans and nature. Island Press, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Haddad L (2013) How should nutrition be positioned in the post-2015 agenda? Food Policy 43:341–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammond RA, Dubé L (2012) A systems science perspective and transdisciplinary models for food and nutrition security. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109:12356–12363

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hebb A, Mortsch L (2007) Floods: mapping vulnerability in the upper thames—watershed under a Changing Climate, CFCAS Project Assessment of Water Resources Risk and Vulnerability to Changing Climatic Conditions, Project Report XI. University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

  • Hodbod J, Eakin H (2015) Adapting a social-ecological resilience framework for food systems. J Environ Stud Sci 5:474–484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holling CS (1973) Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 4:1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holling C (2003) The backloop to sustainability. In: Berkes F et al (eds) Navigating social-ecological systems, building resilience for complexity and change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 15–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Holling C, Allen CR (2002) Adaptive inference for distinguishing credible from incredible patterns in nature. Ecosystems 5:319–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber R et al (2013) Sustainable land use in mountain regions under global change: synthesis across scales and disciplines. Ecol Soc 18(3). http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol18/iss3/art36/. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • IAASTD (2009) Agriculture at a crossroads synthesis report. IAASTD, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingram J (2008) Food system concepts for the ESF/COST forward look on European food systems in a changing world, Paper presented at the Work document ESF-COST Forward Look Workshop, Brussels. http://www.gecafs.org/publications/Publications/Ingram%20FLook%20Food%20Systems.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Ingram J (2011) A food systems approach to researching food security and its interactions with global environmental change. Food Security 3:417–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingram J, Ericksen P, Liverman DM (eds) (2010) Food security and global environmental change. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingram et al (2013) Priority research questions for the UK food system. Food Secur 5:617–636

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2014) Summary for policymakers. Climate change 2014: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. IPCC, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston JL, Fanzo JC, Cogill B (2014) Understanding sustainable diets: a descriptive analysis of the determinants and processes that influence diets and their impact on health, food security, and environmental sustainability. Adv Nutr An Int Rev J 5:418–429

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kates RW et al (2001) Sustainability science. Science 292:641–642

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly PM, Adger WN (2000) Theory and practice in assessing vulnerability to climate change and facilitating adaptation. Clim Change 47:325–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klein RJ, Nicholls RJ (1999) Assessment of coastal vulnerability to climate change. Ambio 28:182–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriegler E, O’Neill BC, Hallegatte S, Kram T, Lempert RJ, Moss RH, Wilbanks T (2012) The need for and use of socio-economic scenarios for climate change analysis: a new approach based on shared socio-economic pathways. Global Environ Change 22:807–822

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leach M, (ed) (2008) Re-framing resilience: a symposium report, STEPS working paper 13. STEPS Centre, Brighton

  • Leichenko RM, O’Brien KL (2002) The dynamics of rural vulnerability to global change: the case of southern Africa. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 7:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu J et al (2007) Complexity of coupled human and natural systems. Science 317:1513–1516

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liverman D, Ingram J (2010) Why regions? In: Ingram J et al (eds) Food security and global environmental change. Earthscan, London, pp 203–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Liverman D, Kapadia K (2010) Food systems and the global environment: an overview. In: Ingram J et al (eds) Food security and global environmental change. Earthscan, London, pp 3–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Lobell DB, Bänziger M, Magorokosho C, Vivek B (2011) Nonlinear heat effects on African maize as evidenced by historical yield trials. Nat Clim Change 1:42–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loring P, Gerlach S, Huntington H (2013) The new environmental security: linking food, water and energy for integrative and diagnostic social-ecological research. J Agric Food Syst Commun Dev 3:55–61

    Google Scholar 

  • MEA (2005) Ecosystems and human well-being: synthesis of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Island Press, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Misselhorn A, Challinor A, Jones J, Plocq-Fichelet V, Schaldach R, Thornton PK (2010a) Surprises and possibilities: addressing risk in food systems. In: Ingram J et al (eds) Food security and global environmental change. Earthscan, London, pp 318–341

    Google Scholar 

  • Misselhorn A, Eakin H, Devereux S, Drimie S, Msangi S, Simelton E, Stafford Smith M (2010b) Vulnerability to what. In: Ingram J et al (eds) Food security and global environmental change. Earthscan, London, pp 87–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Misselhorn A, Aggarwal P, Ericksen P, Gregory P, Horn-Phathanothai L, Ingram J, Wiebe K (2012) A vision for attaining food security. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 4:7–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nazari S, Rad GP, Sedighi H, Azadi H (2015) Vulnerability of wheat farmers: toward a conceptual framework. Ecol Indic 52:517–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ng M et al (2014) Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Lancet 384:766–781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien K, Leichenko RM (2003) Winners and losers in the context of global change. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 93:89–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien K, Sygna L, Haugen JE (2004) Vulnerable or resilient? A multi-scale assessment of climate impacts and vulnerability in Norway. Clim Change 64:193–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olesen JE, Bindi M (2002) Consequences of climate change for European agricultural productivity, land use and policy. Eur J Agron 16:239–262

  • Olesen JE (2006) Climate change as a driver for European agriculture. SCAR-Foresight in the field of agricultural research in Europe, Expert paper. Standing Committee on Agriculture Research. http://ec.europa.eu/research/agriculture/scar/pdf/scar_foresight_climate_change_en.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Oosterveer P, Sonnenfeld DA (2012) Food, globalization and sustainability. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom E (2007) A diagnostic approach for going beyond panaceas. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104:15181–15187

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom E (2009) A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social–ecological systems. Science 325:419–422

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Padilla M, Cogill B, Prosperi P, Allen T, Peri I (2015) Metrics for sustainable diets and food systems: insights from a multi-institutional research partnership. In: Innovative indicators and initiatives for Food Security: Feeding Expo Milano with Mediterranean perspectives. CIHEAM Watch Letters N. 32, Paris. http://www.ciheam.org/index.php/en/publications/watch-letters/watch-letter-32. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, Hanson C (2007) Climate change 2007: working group II–impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. IPCC, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Plummer R (2010) Social–ecological resilience and environmental education: synopsis, application, implications. Environ Educ Res 16:493–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pretty J (2008) Agricultural sustainability: concepts, principles and evidence. Phil Trans R Soc B 363:447–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prosperi P, Peri I (2014) Concepts and methods for sustainability assessment: insights from food security. Rivista di Studi Sulla Sostenibilita’—The Review of Studies on Sustainability, 1, 23–34. http://www.francoangeli.it/Riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDarticolo=51356. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Prosperi P, Allen T, Padilla M, Peri I, Cogill B (2014) Sustainability and food & nutrition security: a vulnerability assessment framework for the Mediterranean Region. SAGE Open, 4, 2. http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/4/2/2158244014539169.full.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Quinlan AE, Berbés-Blázquez M, Haider LJ, Peterson GD (2015) Measuring and assessing resilience: broadening understanding through multiple disciplinary perspectives. J Appl Ecol. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12550/pdf. Accessed 04 Jan 2016

  • Ramalingam B, Jones H, Reba T, Young J (2008) Exploring the science of complexity: ideas and implications for development and humanitarian efforts. Overseas Development Institute, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Rammel C, McIntosh BS, Jeffrey P (2007) (Co)evolutionary approaches to sustainable development. Int J Sust Dev World 14:1–3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redman CL (2014) Should sustainability and resilience be combined or remain distinct pursuits. Ecol Soc 19:2. https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/138377/content/ES-2013-6390.pdf. Accessed 04 Jan 2016

  • Resilience Alliance (2010) Assessing resilience in social–ecological systems: workbook for practitioners, Version 2.0. http://www.resalliance.org/workbook/. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Rockström J (2003) Resilience building and water demand management for drought mitigation. Phys Chem Earth, Parts A/B/C 28:869–877

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rockström J et al (2009) A safe operating space for humanity. Nature 461:472–475

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roe E (1998) Taking complexity seriously: policy analysis, triangulation, and sustainable development. Springer, Dordecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig C, Casassa G, Karoly DG, Imeson A, Liu C, Menzel A, Rawlins S, Root TL, Seguin B, Tryjanowski P (2007) Assessment of observed changes and responses in natural and managed systems. In: Parry et al. (eds) Climate change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 79–131

  • Saldarriaga M, Nyanga PH, Kopainsky B (2014). Dynamic decision making in coupled social–ecological systems. In: Paper presented at the 32nd international conference of the system dynamics society. 20–24 July 2014, Delft, The Netherlands. http://www.systemdynamics.org/conferences/2014/proceed/papers/P1379.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Schewenius M, McPhearson T, Elmqvist T (2014) Opportunities for increasing resilience and sustainability of urban social–ecological systems: insights from the URBES and the cities and biodiversity outlook projects. Ambio 43:434–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlüter M, Hinkel J, Bots PW, Arlinghaus R. (2014). Application of the SES framework for model-based analysis of the dynamics of social–ecological systems. Ecol Soc 19(1). http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss1/art36/. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Schröter D, Polsky C, Patt A (2005) Assessing vulnerabilities to the effects of global change: an eight step approach. Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 10:573–595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scoones I, Leach M, Smith A, Stagl S, Stirling A, Thompson J (2007) Dynamic systems and the challenge of sustainability, STEPS Working Paper 1. STEPS Centre, Brighton

  • Shrimpton R, Rokx C (2012) The double burden of malnutrition: a review of global evidence. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Stave K, Kopainsky B (2014) Dynamic thinking about food system vulnerabilities in highly developed countries: issues and initial analytic structure. In: Paper presented at the 32nd international conference of the system dynamics society. 20–24 July 2014, Delft, The Netherlands. http://www.systemdynamics.org/conferences/2014/proceed/papers/P1222.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Strunz S (2012) Is conceptual vagueness an asset? Arguments from philosophy of science applied to the concept of resilience. Ecol Econ 76:112–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tegart W, Sheldon G, Griffiths D (1990) Climate change: The IPCC scientific assessment. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson J, Scoones I (2009) Addressing the dynamics of agri-food systems: an emerging agenda for social science research. Environ Sci Policy 12:386–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson J, Millstone E, Scoones I, Ely A, Marshall F, Shah, Stagl S (2007) Agri-food system dynamics: pathways to sustainability in an era of uncertainty, STEPS working Paper 4. STEPS Centre, Brighton

  • Tilman D, Clark M (2014) Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health. Nature 515:518–522

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • TRANSMANGO (2014) Transmango Flyer. www.transmango.eu/userfiles/file/transmango%20flyer.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Turner BL (2010) Vulnerability and resilience: coalescing or paralleling approaches for sustainability science? Global Environ Change 20:570–576

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner BL et al (2003) A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. Proc Natl Acad Sci 100:8074–8079

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • UNEP (2012) Measuring progress: environmental goals & gaps. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations (2014) World Statistics Pocketbook, 2014th edn. United Nations, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Vermeulen SJ et al (2013) Addressing uncertainty in adaptation planning for agriculture. Proc Natl Acad Sci 110:8357–8362

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vervoort J, Hoogstra M, Kok K, van Lammeren R, Bregt A, Janssen R (2014) Visualizing stakeholder perspectives for reflection and dialogue on scale dynamics in social–ecological systems. Hum Ecol Rev 20:157–181

    Google Scholar 

  • Vinceti B, Termote C, Ickowitz A, Powell B, Kehlenbeck K, Hunter D (2013) The contribution of forests and trees to sustainable diets. Sustainability 5:4797–4824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker B, Gunderson L, Kinzig A, Folke C, Carpenter S, Schultz L (2006) A handful of heuristics and some propositions for understanding resilience in social–ecological systems. Ecol Soc 11(1). http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art13/. Accessed 21 Sept 2015

  • Wood S, Ericksen P, Stewart B, Thornton P, Anderson M (2010) Lessons learned from international assessments. In: Ingram J et al (eds) Food security and global environmental change. Earthscan, London, pp 46–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu Q, Wu W, Yang P, Li Z, Xiong W, Tang H (2012) Proposing an interdisciplinary and cross-scale framework for global change and food security researches. Agric Ecosyst Environ 156:57–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziervogel G, Ericksen P (2010) Adapting to climate change to sustain food security. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Clim Change 1:525–540

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Bruce Cogill, Thomas Allen and Paolo Prosperi's work was supported by the Daniel & Nina Carasso Foundation (Grant No. 00030240) and the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health Programme of the CGIAR.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bioversity International, Parc Scientifique Agropolis II, 34397, Montpellier, France

    Paolo Prosperi & Thomas Allen

  2. Bioversity International, Via dei Tre Denari, 472/a, Maccarese (Fiumicino), 00054, Rome, Italy

    Bruce Cogill

  3. Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier (CIHEAM/IAMM - UMR Moïsa, Markets, Organizations, Institutions and Operators’ Strategies), 3191, route de Mende, 34093, Montpellier, France

    Martine Padilla

  4. Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia, 100, 95123, Catania, Italy

    Iuri Peri

Authors
  1. Paolo Prosperi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas Allen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bruce Cogill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Martine Padilla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Iuri Peri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paolo Prosperi.

Additional information

P. Prosperi and T. Allen are first co-authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Prosperi, P., Allen, T., Cogill, B. et al. Towards metrics of sustainable food systems: a review of the resilience and vulnerability literature. Environ Syst Decis 36, 3–19 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-016-9584-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-016-9584-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation