Development of a sustainability self-assessment tool for urban agriculture stakeholders

Context and challenges

Traditional food supply circuits in cities have significant repercussions on the environment due to agricultural production methods and transport, especially with regard to imported products. Urban agriculture, in addition to offering social benefits (social links, employment assistance, etc.), could mitigate these impacts by offering ultra-local circuits with more production methods that are often less intensive and even alternative. However, these potential benefits have barely been demonstrated and quantified so far. In addition, significant differences exist between the types of urban agriculture systems in terms of the pros and cons for the environment. The potential advantages and disadvantages for the environment are determined on the one hand by the precise technical systems and on the other hand by the specific performance of the conventional food supply chain that they might replace.

Objectives

The thesis aims to develop and test a methodological framework, and ultimately an operational tool, which could help decision-makers to assess the sustainability of urban agriculture projects and guide their design and management. Urban agriculture practitioners will also be able to use this tool to optimise the carbon footprint of their projects and compare them to conventional food supply chains, in particular, those involving imported products. The environmental dimension of sustainability is taken into account through the life-cycle assessment (LCA). However, LCA methods can be supplemented in the thesis by other methodologies, within the framework of research carried out by the INRA-SAD “Urban agriculture” team, which gives us a particular insight into the social impacts. The thesis will be based on the implementation of LCA in urban farms in the Paris region and in California, chosen to represent a diversity of technical systems and integration into the marketing circuits.