Assessing multifunctionality in relation to resource use : a holistic approach to measure efficiency, developed by participatory research

• Today’s intensive agriculture needs to be transformed into sustainable production of food, and this process requires good tools that can assess whether an action is leading towards this in the long term. A critical issue is what optimal yield comprises in terms of other functions of agriculture, as higher yields might lead to e.g. a reduction in biodiversity or soil carbon. In this study, emergy analysis and footprinting were combined to assess and illustrate the total resource use caused by a farming activity (milk production) and to identify the renewable fraction of this resource use. The total efficiency was defined as a function of the resource use and the multifunctionality of production. The classification of ecosystem services in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) was used as the basis for ranking multifunctionality. The results were expressed in the form of ecosystem bundles for the four MA categories (provisioning, supporting, regulating and cultural functions). Three scenarios with different degrees of input intensity and milk production were constructed and compared with the current production mode. The ratio of local renewable resource use to total resource use differed greatly between the different production strategies, being 1:3 for a self-sufficient organic farm and 1:14 for a conventional farm with maximum milk yield. Milk production was five-fold higher on the conventional farm, while generation of ecosystem services increased with increasing self-sufficiency under the local conditions prevailing in the study. Ecosystem services in all categories except provisioning were ranked higher when self-sufficiency increased.

Ämnesord

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske -- Jordbruksvetenskap (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries -- Agricultural Science (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Emergy analysis

footprint

ecosystem services

ecosystem bundles

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