With the "Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment RouTine"(SMART), the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and the SFS have developed the world's first tool that enables agricultural and food systems to have their sustainability performance analyzed in a credible, transparent and comparable manner. Among other things, food sovereignty is assessed.
Dr. Rainer Weisshaidinger, Isabella Gusenbauer, Moritz Teriete, Richard Petrasek & Dr. Thomas Lindenthal
The term "sustainability" is now used in an inflationary and inconsistent manner. An increasing number of seals and certificates and suppliers of "sustainable" products make it difficult for consumers to understand who is actually operating sustainably. Against this background, FiBL and SFS decided to develop the SMART method. SMART is based on the SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems) Sustainability Guidelines, which were published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2014. The aim and content of these SAFA guidelines is to clearly define guidelines for a comprehensive sustainability assessment of food and agriculture and therefore avoid greenwashing in the area of sustainability.
The SAFA guidelines define four dimensions of sustainability: "Environmental integrity", "Economic resilience", "Social well-being" and "Good corporate governance", which in turn are divided into 21 topics and a total of 58 sub-topics. Specific targets were formulated for each of these sub-themes, which can be used to evaluate sustainability performance using indicators. As NGOs were also actively involved in the process of drawing up the guidelines, food sovereignty was included as one of the sub-themes.
What is food sovereignty?
The concept of food sovereignty was launched in 1996 by La Vía Campesina, a global smallholder movement, and many other local, national and transnational initiatives as a broad-based approach to tackling (local) food and supply problems. It is thanks to these organizations and initiatives that this important concept has become an integral part of the sustainability debate. As the concept is one that stands in opposition to the current, mostly unsustainable agricultural concepts, this can be seen as a success. However, evaluating the concept of food sovereignty is anything but easy.
Evaluation of food sovereignty in SMART
Food sovereignty, together with the sub-topic of indigenous knowledge, represents the topic of "cultural diversity" in the SAFA guidelines. For SAFA, cultural diversity means respecting the intellectual property rights of indigenous communities and the rights of all those involved, their lifestyles and the associated production and consumption patterns. Cultural diversity is an indispensable asset for reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development. Understanding this diversity is a prerequisite for further development measures (UNESCO 2008 after FAO 2014 p. 204).
According to SAFA, food sovereignty is based on a renewal of traditional agrarian and indigenous wisdom and includes the need for a more equitable, local and sustainable food system that affirms the fundamental values of democracy, empowerment and self-determination. Food sovereignty leads to a just, ecologically harmonious and local food and agriculture system based on the right of peoples and communities to define it for themselves (FAO 2014, p. 207).
Target setting and evaluation of food sovereignty in SMART
Target: The company or farm contributes to and benefits from exercising the right of choice and ownership of its means of production, particularly in the preservation and use of traditional heirlooms and locally adapted varieties or breeds.
Assessment: The sustainability objective measures whether the farm has choice in the procurement of materials (e.g. seeds) and outlets (e.g. farm gate, supermarket). Access to choice reflects the independence of the farm/company and the ability of the food chain to have control over its production and supply system.
The SMART method provides science with a tool to measure the political concept of food sovereignty together with other areas of sustainability. Evaluated companies and farms are also given the opportunity to progress and further develop their sustainability impact. Since sustainability is not always easy to "measure", FiBL and the SFS are endeavoring to further develop the SMART method in the area of food sovereignty, among others.
FiBL Austria - Network for organic farming
The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) was founded in May 2004 as a non-profit organization based in Vienna. FiBL Austria currently employs 34 people. It works in close cooperation with FiBL Switzerland, FiBL Germany and FiBL International.
Networking between practice, extension and research as well as sound organic knowledge for consumers are among FiBL's main objectives and fields of work in Austria. With practice-oriented research and market development projects, FiBL in Austria plays an active role in the comprehensive exchange of knowledge and in the networking of all stakeholders along the organic food production chain - from producers to consumers.
The main areas of work include: Sustainability assessment, sustainable diets and plant and vegetable cultivation.
FiBL in Austria maintains intensive cooperation with national and international research partners, with partners from the fields of education and extension, and with marketing organizations and multipliers at national and international level. Projects are commissioned by government agencies and private clients.
