A scan as a part of a traject towards sustainability at farm level

Main research question/goal

This research aims to develop a scan to monitor sustainability at the individual farm level. By applying this tool, the farmer can direct his efforts towards  a sustainable farm business. We start from the premise that a sustainable development of an industry arises from the improvement strategies of the individual firms themselves and from the farmer’s awareness.

Research approach

We focus on a number of subsectors of the agricultural industry. In a participative manner, we develop a scanning tool to map sustainability at farm level through a feasible set of indicators. We safeguard the applicability by elaborating a trajectory in which the scan is integrated in the operation of Boerenbond.

Relevance/Valorisation

The valorization is already part of the research plan: the accounting groups of Boerenbond took it on themselves to use the scanning tool as a starting point/tool for discussions about strategies to approach sustainability in an integrated way. We also expect an added value at sector level: the development process itself can help uncover sector-specific constraints in addition to mere company-specific constraints.