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Indicators are commonly used as tools to identify and highlight socio-economic and ecological trends and to assess progress towards sustainability. Different quality criteria can be considered for indicators. This paper focuses on the timeliness of indicators used in the evaluation of sustainable development strategies. The analysis is based on indicators included in four assessment reports of…

As in many sectors in emerging economies, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become important for exporting agri-food firms in view of their integration in global supply chains. The purpose of this research was to assess the implementation by Chilean fruit exporters of CSR practices that go beyond minimum legal requirements. The principal results are that, although socio…

“Water security” has come to infiltrate prominent discourse in the international water and development community, and achieving it is often viewed as a new water sector target. Despite the elevated status that the concept has increasingly acquired, understandings of the term are murky and quantification is rare. To promote a more tangible understanding of the concept, this paper develops an index…

The official environmental discourse in Laos describes a “chain of degradation” stretching from upland shifting cultivation, increased runoff and soil erosion to the siltation of wetlands and reservoirs. This perspective has had wide-ranging impacts on rural development policy which, in the uplands, has long favoured forest conservation over agriculture. Integrating soil erosion and water…

By 2050, the global food requirement will increase significantly, driven by a population increase to more than nine billion and by a richer diet. There is a need for agricultural and food systems that are not only more productive, but also sustainable. Currently, progress is hampered by a lack of understanding how to close the yield and sustainability gap. The consequence is stagnation in…

Climate change policies currently focus on reducing the concentration of industrial atmospheric greenhouse gases due to burning fossil fuels and deforestation, but pay limited attention to feedbacks between the land surface and the climate system. In tropical and subtropical regions, forests and woodlands play an important role in the climate system by buffering climate extremes, maintaining the…