Evaluation of the dairy sustainability assessment tool (DSAT) for dairy systems in East Africa

A.A. Ayantunde; O.A. Ndambi; A. van der Linden; A.B. Alvarez Aranguiz; S.H. Pishgar Komleh; J. van der Lee

doi:10.1080/14735903.2024.2399414

Evaluation of the dairy sustainability assessment tool (DSAT) for dairy systems in East Africa

A.A. Ayantunde^*, O.A. Ndambi, A. van der Linden, A.B. Alvarez Aranguiz, S.H. Pishgar Komleh, J. van der Lee

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Sustainability assessment of dairy systems is necessary to understand bottlenecks and to identify measures to enhance sustainability of the systems. The Dairy Sustainability Assessment Tool (DSAT) was developed with a focus on the facilitation of discussion on sustainability among dairy sector actors in East Africa. DSAT has been applied in several case studies, but the tool has not been systematically evaluated. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of DSAT and to compare its main features with similar
dairy assessment tools for Africa. This evaluation consisted of a literature search to identify relevant assessment tools and an online survey about the tool among its users. DSAT was different from other tools compared with as it does not require input data from farm surveys as the assessments rely on expert opinion, and it can conduct assessments at farm, regional and national scales. Results also showed that DSAT was appropriate for holistic assessments of the sustainability of dairy systems in Africa by providing a good overview of threats to sustainability. Weaknesses were mainly the scoring of indicators, which tends to be subjective
and the absence of numerical reference values for indicators. Therefore, improving
DSAT requires addressing the identified weaknesses.

Original language	English
Article number	2399414
Journal	International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
Volume	22
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2024.2399414
Publication status	Published - 9 Sept 2024

Keywords

sustainable intensification
sustainability aspects
farming systems
smallholder farmers
model evaluation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1080/14735903.2024.2399414Licence: CC BY

https://edepot.wur.nl/673040Licence: CC BY

Tradeoffs and synergies (& scenarios) (KB-35-103-001)
Ayantunde, A. (Project Leader)
1/01/23 → 31/12/24
Project: LVVN project

Cite this

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title = "Evaluation of the dairy sustainability assessment tool (DSAT) for dairy systems in East Africa",

abstract = "Sustainability assessment of dairy systems is necessary to understand bottlenecks and to identify measures to enhance sustainability of the systems. The Dairy Sustainability Assessment Tool (DSAT) was developed with a focus on the facilitation of discussion on sustainability among dairy sector actors in East Africa. DSAT has been applied in several case studies, but the tool has not been systematically evaluated. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of DSAT and to compare its main features with similardairy assessment tools for Africa. This evaluation consisted of a literature search to identify relevant assessment tools and an online survey about the tool among its users. DSAT was different from other tools compared with as it does not require input data from farm surveys as the assessments rely on expert opinion, and it can conduct assessments at farm, regional and national scales. Results also showed that DSAT was appropriate for holistic assessments of the sustainability of dairy systems in Africa by providing a good overview of threats to sustainability. Weaknesses were mainly the scoring of indicators, which tends to be subjectiveand the absence of numerical reference values for indicators. Therefore, improvingDSAT requires addressing the identified weaknesses.",

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AU - Ayantunde, A.A.

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AU - van der Linden, A.

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AU - Pishgar Komleh, S.H.

AU - van der Lee, J.

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AB - Sustainability assessment of dairy systems is necessary to understand bottlenecks and to identify measures to enhance sustainability of the systems. The Dairy Sustainability Assessment Tool (DSAT) was developed with a focus on the facilitation of discussion on sustainability among dairy sector actors in East Africa. DSAT has been applied in several case studies, but the tool has not been systematically evaluated. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of DSAT and to compare its main features with similardairy assessment tools for Africa. This evaluation consisted of a literature search to identify relevant assessment tools and an online survey about the tool among its users. DSAT was different from other tools compared with as it does not require input data from farm surveys as the assessments rely on expert opinion, and it can conduct assessments at farm, regional and national scales. Results also showed that DSAT was appropriate for holistic assessments of the sustainability of dairy systems in Africa by providing a good overview of threats to sustainability. Weaknesses were mainly the scoring of indicators, which tends to be subjectiveand the absence of numerical reference values for indicators. Therefore, improvingDSAT requires addressing the identified weaknesses.

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Evaluation of the dairy sustainability assessment tool (DSAT) for dairy systems in East Africa

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Projects

Tradeoffs and synergies (& scenarios) (KB-35-103-001)

Cite this