Indicators of Sustainable Agriculture: A Scoping Analysis

This working paper by the World Resources Institute (WRI) details a scoping exercise to identify a preliminary list of indicators for measuring the environmental sustainability of agriculture, defined as minimizing the environmental impacts of agriculture.

• The WRI identified five primary thematic areas for environmental sustainability in agriculture: water, climate change, land conversion, soil health, and pollution.
• The analysis categorized indicators based on three stages of a 'causal chain' of action: public policy, farmer practice, and biophysical performance.
• Candidate indicators were evaluated using seven screening criteria: data availability, accuracy, consistency in gathering, frequency, proximity to reality, relevancy, and the ability to differentiate between countries.
• The WRI proposes that the next steps for establishing these indicators include refining the selection, assessing the feasibility of collecting missing data, and road testing the indicators, suggesting that international organizations investing in agriculture should implement these steps.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Indicators of Sustainable Agriculture: A Scoping Analysis. https://www.wri.org/research/indicators-sustainable-agriculture-scoping-analysis

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Indicators of Sustainable Agriculture: A Scoping Analysis. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/indicators-sustainable-agriculture-scoping-analysis.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Indicators of Sustainable Agriculture: A Scoping Analysis |url=https://www.wri.org/research/indicators-sustainable-agriculture-scoping-analysis |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendindicators, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Indicators of Sustainable Agriculture: A Scoping Analysis}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/indicators-sustainable-agriculture-scoping-analysis}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }