First Symposium at the Zentrum Paul Klee March 16, 2006, Bern, Switzerland

INFASA: International Forum on Assessing Sustainability in Agriculture

A Dialogue on Sustainable Agricultureinfasa

Program for the First INFASA Symposium on March 16th7.45–8.30 Registration

8.30–9.00 Opening Remarks from the INFASA Co-Chairs Dr. Fritz Häni, Head, Agroecology Program, Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL)Dr. László Pintér, Director, Measurement and Assessment, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD),Canada

9.00–10.00 Keynote Addresses – Global Views on Assessment of Sustainability in Agriculture

Agricultural Sustainability Indicators: A Global and Developing Country Perspective – Why and Why Not?Dr. Hans Herren, President, Millennium Institute, USA

An OECD Perspective on Using Agri-Environmental Indicators for Policy AnalysisMr. Wilfrid Legg, Divison Head, Agri-Environmental Policies, OECD, France

10.00–10.20 Refreshment Break

10.20–12.00 Experience with the Use of Assessment Tools on Farms and at Institutions (Case study presentations)

Measurement and Assessment Tools for Sustainable Agriculture in the U.K.Dr. Kathy Lewis, Head, Agriculture and Environment Research Unit (AERU), University of Hertfordshire, U.K.

The Assessment of Farm Sustainability Using the Farm Sustainability Indicators Method (IDEA)Mr. Frédéric Zahm, Researcher, Cemagref, France

Tackling Sustainability Deficits on Dairy Farms in Northeastern China with RISE (Response-Inducing Sustainability Evaluation)Dr. Christoph Studer, Tropical Crop Production and Natural Resources Management, SHL

Sustainability Assessment of Producer Groups in BrazilMr. Eduardo Sampaio, Agronomist, private consultant and representative of Utz Kapeh, Brazil

12.00–12.30 Landscape Tour of Zentrum Paul Klee (ZPK)

12.30–13.50 Lunch

13.50–15.30 Experience with the Use of Assessment Tools on Farms and at Institutions (Case study presentations continued)

Unilever and Sustainable Agriculture – Measuring ImprovementMr. David Pendlington, Sustainable Agriculture Co-ordinator, Unilever, Netherlands

Development of an Environmental Management System for Agricultural Farms and its Introduction into Practice, REPROMr. Björn Küstermann, Department of Plant Sciences (Organic Farming), Technical University Munich, Germany

Using Agri-Environmental Indicators in Policy Development – The Canadian ExperienceMr. Greg Strain, Director, Agri-Environmental Policy Bureau of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Sustainability Indicators: Key Tools for Implementing and Developing Swiss Agricultural PolicyMr. Vinzenz Jung, Economic Adviser, Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG)

15.30 Refreshment Break

15.50–17.20 Panel Discussion – Perspectives of Stakeholders on Implementation of Sustainability Assessment Tools

Moderator: Dr. Padruot Fried, FAL Reckenholz

Dr. Claudia R. Binder, Institute for Human-Environment Systems, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ)

Mr. Manfred Bötsch, Director-General of the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG)

Mr. Walter Fust, Director-General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

Dr. Hans Jöhr, Corporate Head of Agriculture, Nestlé

Dr. Frank Pervanchon, Sustainability Expert, Trame (French farmers’ and employees’ association)

Mr. Géraud Servin, Environment Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

18.30–20.00 Buffet Dinner

20.15–21.30 Evening Concert

Original compositions created for the Symposium have a sustainability theme and will be performed by renowned musi-cians, along with classical music.

Welcome to INFASA. Welcome to Bern…It is our pleasure to welcome you to the first INFASA symposium. We hope that the stunning Zentrum Paul Klee—which beautifullyconnects art, architecture and agriculture—will inspire all of us to learn and share together.

Agriculture is a sector with great potential, but one under great stress. New technology, shifting consumption patterns, populationgrowth, environmental changes and other forces converge, resulting in greater risks to agricultural production systems and producers.

Sustainability of farming and the entire agri-food system is, therefore, increasingly important. Successful adaptation requires access togood information and effective sustainability indicators.

While such indicators have been on the research agenda of many organizations, their actual impact on policies, corporate strategiesand practices have so far been limited. We believe that sustainability measurement and assessment have the potential to reduce long-term risk and to significantly advance the sustainability agenda.

IISD and SHL have launched this multi-year forum to address the development and broader use of measurement and assessment toolsfor sustainable agriculture. Science, policy and practice are the pillars of our dialogue. Our ultimate objective is to enhance sustainableagriculture through a dialogue between developers and potential users of assessment tools and methods. INFASA thus strives for theapplication of indicator and assessment systems, to advance sustainable agriculture from a broadly accepted principle to a commonpractice.

This symposium is a first step in a longer process to advance assessment tools and to build potential and capacity for their enhanceduse in decision-making. We see this as an interactive event. We’d like your feedback as we work together to set the future direction ofthe forum and as we strive collectively toward achieving sustainable development in agriculture.

We hope that you will enjoy the symposium as well as the social events, the setting and the music, including compositions createdspecifically for this event. We look forward to sharing time with you.

Dr. Fritz J. Häni, Co-Chair, INFASA Dr. László Pintér, Co-Chair, INFASASwiss College of Agriculture (SHL) International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)Zollikofen, Switzerland Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Presenters8.30–9.00 Opening Remarks

Dr. Fritz Häni, Professor of Plant Protection and Head, Agroecology Program, Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL)

Dr. Häni is a Professor for Plant Protection, and Head of the Agroecology Program at the Swiss College of Agriculture. An agronomist spe-cializing in plant pathology and integrated farming systems, Prof. Häni has worked for many years in national and international projects, inparticular dealing with agro-ecosystems; natural regulation; functional biodiversity; ecologically oriented and integrated farming systems. Heis an editor and author of a number of books on these subjects that have been translated into many languages. In recent years, his work hasbeen focused on sustainability assessments and sustainability indicators (development of the model RISE: Response-Inducing SustainabilityEvaluation). He is a co-founder of the Swiss Society of Phytiatry, a society of the Swiss Academy of Sciences.

Dr. László Pintér, Director, Measurement and Assessment, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Canada

Dr. Pintér, an agronomist by training, has worked with IISD since 1994 and currently directs its Measurement and Assessment program. Heleads IISD’s five-year collaborative project with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), focusing on strategic inputs to AAFC’s AgriculturePolicy Framework in the areas of social indicators, full-cost accounting and international cooperation. His primary areas of expertise includethe conceptualization, establishment and use of integrated indicator, assessment and reporting systems in the context of sustainable devel-opment strategies, from local to global levels. He is also well known for his work in training and capacity building and maintains a project port-folio in the areas of integrated vulnerability, adaptation and resilience analysis.

A Dialogue on Sustainable Agricultureinfasa

9.00–10.00 Keynote Addresses – Global Views on Assessment of Sustainability in Agriculture

Agricultural Sustainability Indicators: A Global and Developing Country Perspective – Why and Why Not? Dr. Hans Herren, President, Millennium Institute, USA

The pros and cons, as well as viable modalities for agricultural sustainabilityindicators from global and developing country perspectives, are presented anddiscussed as part of this paper. Among issues that are relevant to this topic areagricultural and food system sustainability definitions and criteria.

Indicators can be a politically sensitive issue, particularly, but not exclusively, indeveloping countries, as they have the potential to expose problems that relateboth to practices and policies. As the need grows to move into new modes ofagricultural production systems that emphasize sustainability while increasingproductivity, the development and application of indicators becomes centralto the monitoring process.

Given the high costs of monitoring, it is also important to have few, but welldefined criteria and their respective indicators, that will add value and provideneeded decision support information to the formulation of sustainable agri-culture policy and program development. Funding agencies also need goodreporting mechanisms to assess project success and investment returns. Thepaper describes some key criteria and indicators while also pointing towardsareas that need further research.

An OECD Perspective on Using Agri-Environmental Indicators for Policy Analysis Mr. Wilfrid Legg, Division Head, Agri-Environmental Policies, OECD, France

Agri-Environmental Indicators (AEIs) contribute to the needs of policy-makers and other users across OECD countries to track the environmen-tal performance of agriculture and to evaluate agricultural policies. A briefoverview is provided of the OECD’s work in establishing a set of AEIs andthe criteria used in their selection, especially their relevance to policy-mak-ers. The paper explores how countries and international organizations,including the OECD, are using AEIs in their own efforts to report on theenvironmental performance of agriculture and to evaluate policies. Animportant challenge is to try to fill the knowledge gaps in the methodolo-gies to construct indicators, obtain missing data and improve the interpre-tation of the results, so that AEIs can be used to compare developmentsacross time and countries, and help to understand the effects of agricul-tural activities and policies on the environment.

10.20-12.00 Experience with the Use of Assessment Tools on Farms and at Institutions (Case study presentations)

Measurement and Assessment Tools for Sustainable Agriculture in the U.K.Dr. Kathy Lewis, Head, Agriculture and Environment Research Unit (AERU), University of Hertfordshire, U.K.

The potential environmental effects of agriculture are numerous. It isnot practical to measure and monitor all of them due to resource andfinancial limitations. Consequently, environmental assessment tech-niques are required to provide a practical and cost-effective alternative.In the U.K., various techniques have been developed which can be usedon farm. For example, in 2000, the U.K. government launched a nation-al set of indicators for sustainable agriculture. However, as policy tools,many of these indicators are highly technical in nature and often appearrelevant only at the national level so farm-level equivalents were laterdeveloped. Since then, the evolution of techniques for assessing farmlevel impacts has been rapid and now ranges from simple measuressuch as environmental audits to complex models such as those beingdeveloped as part of FOOTPRINT. This presentation looks at a varietyof techniques that have been developed in the U.K. and Europe over thepast 10 years and highlights some of their advantages and limitations.Dr. John Tzilivakis is a co-author of this work.

Mr. Legg is Head of the Policies and Environment Divisionin the OECD Agriculture Directorate, where he has beensince 1981, after working as a research fellow in SussexUniversity. His main areas of expertise are in agriculturaland environmental policy analysis, and in measuring andevaluating agricultural policy developments, using theinternationally recognized measures of support to agri-culture (the Producer and Consumer Support Estimates)that he helped develop. He was President of theAgricultural Economics Society for 2003–2004 and hisPresidential address was entitled Agricultural Subsidies:Measurement and Use in Policy Evaluation.

Dr. Herren is an internationally recognized scientistwho has used modelling in his work at ICIPE and whoearned his PhD at the Federal Institute of Technologyin Zurich, Switzerland. In recognition of his distin-guished and continuing achievements in originalresearch, he has been elected to the U.S. NationalAcademy of Sciences, one of the highest honours ascientist can receive. In addition, Margaret Thatcherawarded him the Sir and Lady Rank Prize for Nutritionin February 1991. Dr. Herren is Co-Chair of theInternational Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge,Science & Technology, (IAASTD); Chairman ofBioVision, a Swiss foundation with a global mandateto alleviate poverty and improve the livelihoods ofpoor people while maintaining the precious naturalresource base that sustains life; and President of theInternational Association of the Plant ProtectionSciences (IAPPS).

Dr. Lewis is a University Reader in Agricultural Science andHead of the Agriculture and Environment Research Unit (AERU)at the University of Hertfordshire. She joined the University as aresearcher in the Department of Environmental Sciences in1995 and the AERU was established soon after. She has man-aged many national and international research projects mainlyconcerned with evaluating the environmental impact and sus-tainability of agriculture and horticulture. This includes develop-ing tools such as simulation models and other software on- andoff-line and applying them to a wide variety of different process-es and crops. The research group is also very active in the areaof knowledge and technology transfer and is responsible for thedevelopment and management of the award winning EMA(Environmental Management for Agriculture) software and theonline ADLib libraries (http://www.adlib.ac.uk). Before joiningUH, Dr. Lewis spent 23 years as a government researcherresponsible for environmental software development and envi-ronmental management implementation.

The Assessment of Farm Sustainability Using the Farm Sustainability Indicators Method (IDEA) Mr. Frédéric Zahm, Researcher, Cemagref, France

While many indicator sets are available to characterize sustainability,methods and operational tools to assess sustainability in agriculture atthe farm level are often described as lacking. Further, when farm levelassessment is conducted by farmers as a form of self assessment, theresults can be very interesting. The presentation will begin with anoverview of the IDEA method (Indicateurs de Durabilité desExploitations Agricoles) or Farm Sustainability Indicators method,illustrating a scientific approach developed in France. With IDEA, theconcept of farm sustainability is translated into a system of 41 sustain-ability indicators covering the three dimensions of sustainability. Casestudy results will illustrate how the IDEA method has been tested on theground. An elaboration on the development of indicators, based on casestudy results and feedback from end users, will follow. The presentationwill conclude with linkages between the IDEA method and nationaldatabases.

Tackling Sustainability Deficits on Dairy Farms in Northeastern China with RISE (Response-Inducing Sustainability Evaluation)Dr. Christoph Studer, Tropical Crop Production and Natural Resources Management, Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL)

Response-Inducing Sustainability Evaluation (RISE) is a computer-based tool designed to assess the sustainability of agricultural pro-duction at the farm level in a holistic way. The model not only aimsat diagnosis, but at the initiation of measures to improve sustain-ability. In a recent case study involving 45 small dairy farms inNortheastern China, the RISE model revealed unsustainable prac-tices with regard to nutrient management. The study recommendedimprovements in feeding, crop fertilization and manure storage toachieve higher input efficiency, a reduced pollution risk and betterprofitability.

Nestlé and the regional government, who collaborated on the study,responded to these findings with the launch of an extension serviceteam. Demonstration farms and an experimental farm are being setup, and a DVD demonstrating good agricultural practices has beendeveloped. Over 400 biogas generators have been installed, and inno-vative ideas for farming communities are being promoted.

The application of RISE has thus initiated actions to improve thesustainability of agricultural production at multiple levels (farmers,Nestlé, regional government).

Sustainability Assessment of Producer Groups in Brazil Mr. Eduardo Sampaio, Agronomist, private consultant and representative of Utz Kapeh, Brazil

An experimental project to determine maximum economic yields in coffeeArabica using non-mechanized systems was initiated at Ouro Fino, SouthernMinas Gerais in 1986. Over the past 20 years, research has focused on limit-ing factors affecting final yields of agricultural systems that use a minimumof agrochemical elements. Research results indicate that these farm systemsresult in significant cost reductions and maximum economic yields.Indicators have been developed and graphically depicted for the followingresearch parameters: degree of biodiversity; use of water; amount of inputs(agrochemicals); fertility of the soil (percentage of the adequate levels); pro-duction (yields); use of energy; produced quality; performance bonus foremployees; social benefits; salaries; and amount of labour per hectare.Analysis of some of Utz Kapeh’s certified farms in South Minas Gerais wasalso conducted using the indicator graphs. Research results will be presented.

Mr. Zahm has been an agro-economist engineer since 1988and obtained a Master’s of accounting and management in2004. From 1990 to 1998, he worked at the French Ministryof Agriculture and Fisheries. As a research engineer inCemagref Bordeaux since 1998, he assisted in the coordi-nation of the European AgriBMPWater project and is cur-rently developing environmental indicators at farm andwatershed levels in order to assess the sustainability per-formance of agriculture. He is also involved in a national proj-ect to develop methods to assess farm sustainability usingindicators (the IDEA Method). His research also focuses ondeveloping a framework to account for environmentalexpenditures associated with agriculture sustainability.

Co-authors: Philippe Viaux, Lionel Vilain, Philippe Girardin,Christian Mouchet.

Dr. Studer has studied Agricultural Sciences at the SwissFederal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, with emphasis oncrop production in tropical agriculture and in dry areas. AsAssociate Expert in the Agroforestry Program of theInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid TropicsSahelian Centre (Niger), Dr. Studer gained his first experiencesas a scientist at an international research centre and becameleader of the program. Later, he was engaged as Soil-Plant-Water Relations Specialist at the International Center forAgricultural Research in the Dry Areas (Syria) concentrating onintegrated approaches to improved water productivity in the dryareas of North Africa, Near and Middle East and Central Asia.Since 2001, Dr. Studer has been Professor for Tropical CropProduction and Natural Resources Management at the SwissCollege of Agriculture (Zollikofen). Besides university teaching,he provides consultancy services, mainly for institutions workingin international collaboration. Since 2004, he has coordinatedthe RISE project.

Co-authors: Fritz Häni, Andreas Stämpfli, Robert Erhard, HansPorsche.

Mr. Sampaio is an agronomical engineer who special-izes in providing consulting advice on the manage-ment and production of coffee arabica and specialtycoffee in Brazil, including coffee developed and pro-duced in sustainable agricultural environments. Mr.Sampaio is the Brazilian representative for the coffeecertification program Utz Kapeh. Mr. Sampaio has alsoworked in a consultancy capacity for Philip Morris/KraftGeneral Foods on green coffee products, genetic proj-ects of specialty coffees, crop forecasting and coffeeproduction in China. Furthermore, he has technicalconsultancy experience with the largest coffee coop-erative in Brazil (COOXUPÉ) in Guaxupé, SouthernMinas Gerais State.

13.50-15.30 Experience with the Use of Assessment Tools on Farms and at Institutions (Case study presentations)

Unilever and Sustainable Agriculture – Measuring Improvement Mr. David Pendlington, Sustainable Agriculture Co-ordinator, Unilever, Netherlands

The presentation will coverthe following aspects: set-ting the scene – Unilever’ssustainable agriculture ini-tiative timeline; how weapproached measuringimprovement – developingindicators and parameters;what we’ve learned – thegood and not so good; andour thoughts on the future– where we’re going next.

Development of an Environmental Management System for Agricultural Farms and its Introduction into Practice, REPRO Mr. Björn Küstermann, Department of Plant Sciences (Organic Farming), Technical University Munich, Germany

The model software REPRO is a tool for farm management and consultation. It is distin-guished by a systemic depiction of farming systems and can be used in agricultural prac-tice. Indicators are not considered as isolated criteria, but in their mutual relationship. Theaccess to farm related data and site information is the basis for statements about mattercycles (C, N, P, K), humus budget, energy efficiency, erosion, soil structure and harmful soilcompaction. This objective requires the surveying of natural site conditions, farm structureand design of production processes with just adequate accuracy—thus a “virtual farm” isgenerated. In the Federal Republic of Germany, the model software has been used underdifferentiated site conditions in more than 300 agricultural enterprises of different struc-ture, management intensity and design of production processes. The results show the rela-tionships between the design of farming systems and their environmental effects. The pos-sibility of scenario calculations permits the validation of optimization strategies.

Using Agri-Environmental Indicators in Policy Development – The Canadian Experience Mr. Greg Strain, Director, Agri-Environmental Policy Bureau of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Agriculture today must balance a wide and continually evolving arrayof social demands and environmental challenges. Governments, farm-ers and other stakeholders are working together to promote research,programming and related actions to address environmental concerns.A decade ago, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the federal depart-ment responsible for agriculture, initiated work to strengthen its policyanalysis and development capacity for the environment. A significantfocus of this work has been on the development of agri-environmentalindicators to assess and report on the environmental performance ofthe agriculture sector, and on the integration of these indicators witheconomic models to provide a policy analysis and forecasting capacity.Agriculture and Agri-food Canada’s experience has yielded valuableinsight into the benefits and limitations of the approach.

Sustainability Indicators: Key Tools for Implementing and Developing Swiss Agricultural Policy Mr. Vinzenz Jung, Economic Adviser, Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG)

The principle of sustainability is inscribed in the Swiss constitutional article on agricul-ture. Agricultural policy has to provide the right incentives so that agriculture can fulfillits multiple roles in a sustainable way. Indicators are used at two levels: first, they areused to evaluate whether Swiss agriculture is on a sustainable path. In the presentation,the sustainability evaluation framework and the corresponding indicators used by theSwiss Federal Office for Agriculture are presented and it will be shown how they influ-ence policy decisions. Second, indicators are necessary tools to implement agriculturalpolicy instruments. The example of direct payments which are contingent on ecologi-cal cross-compliance conditions is given.

Mr. Pendlington has been with Unilever for 15 years and has worked on the agronomic improvement ofUnilever’s frozen vegetable and tomato pasta sauce businesses in Europe and around the world. In 1997he became involved in Unilever’s sustainable agriculture initiative, working closely with the NGO Forum forthe Future and the Unilever Birds Eye frozen pea business, setting up the first Unilever sustainable agricul-ture pilot project. He went on to run the Sustainable Agriculture research project at Unilever’s R&D siteColworth, in the U.K. In 2001 he joined the Regulatory Impact Unit in the U.K. Government’s Cabinet Office,for a two-year secondment, with the remit of reducing the burden of bureaucracy and regulation on busi-ness, particularly small businesses. A highlight was the creation of a pilot project to reduce the cost ofbiopesticide registrations in the U.K. On returning to Unilever, he spent a short period in corporate relations,but in January 2004 took up the position of Sustainable Agriculture Co-ordinator, based in Rotterdam. Hiscurrent role focuses on giving support, guidance and facilitation to all Unilever’s global sustainable agricul-ture activities.

Mr. Küstermann is a PhD student affiliat-ed with the Chair of Organic Farming,Technical University of Munich. His the-sis work is supported by the GermanFederal Environmental Foundation andis on the subject of “Indicators ofSustainable Land Use.” The researchincludes an analysis of agriculturalfarming systems in the context of cli-mate relevance. Mr. Küstermann alsohas a diploma in agricultural sciences.

Mr. Strain is the Director of the Agri-Environmental PolicyBureau of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. He holds aMaster of Science in Agricultural Economics from theUniversity of Manitoba specializing in agri-environmental pol-icy; as well, he attended Brandon University, where heobtained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. Greg has beenwith Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada since 1985, and priorto his assignment with the Agri-Environmental Policy Bureau,had worked primarily on farm income and business risk man-agement policy. He also spent a year as Visiting Economistwith the OECD in Paris, France, and one year as VisitingEconomist with the Economic Research Service of the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Jung is an economic adviser at theSwiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG)in the Federal Department of EconomicAffairs. He was born in 1968 in Bern,Switzerland and holds a degree in businessadministration and a Master’s degree inAgricultural Economics. He works in thefields of economic analysis, evaluation andsustainability.

16.00-17.30 Panel Discussion – Perspectives of Stakeholders on Implementation of SustainabilityAssessment Tools

Moderator: Dr. Padruot Fried, FAL Reckenholz

Dr. Claudia R. Binder

Dr. Claudia R. Binder is senior research associate and lecturer at the Institute for Human-Environment Systems at the Swiss Federal Instituteof Technology (ETHZ) and Professor for Social and Industrial Ecology at the Department of Geography at the University of Zürich. Her mainresearch interests are: development of interdisciplinary approaches for modelling the dynamics and the impact of human activities on theenvironment; development of integrative sustainability assessment tools; and analysis of regulatory mechanisms and structures within human-environment systems. Her empirical research areas include sustainable development of rural and urban regions including resource and wastemanagement systems both in Switzerland and developing countries. Binder is ad personam member of the Swiss Commission for ResearchPartnership with Developing Countries, the Swiss Centre for International Agriculture (ETHZ) and the Network for International DevelopmentCooperation (ETHZ). She is also reviewer for several journals including: Environmental Management, Industrial Ecology, EcologicalEconomics and Environment and Development Economics.

Mr. Manfred Bötsch

Manfred Bötsch is Director-General of the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) in the Federal Department of Economic Affairs. He wasborn in 1955 in Wängi, Switzerland. He holds degrees in agricultural engineering and law. Before joining the FOAG he worked as a self-employed farmer on a dairy and fruit farm and held positions at the Swiss Dairy Farmers’ Association as well as the Swiss Farmers’ Union.

Dr. Padruot M. Fried

Dr. Padruot Fried holds degrees as an agronomist from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and as a plant pathologist with anM.S. from Kansas State University and a PhD from The Pennsylvania State University. He is co-breeder of several wheat varieties which aregrown today in four continents and were developed at the Swiss Federal Research Station for Agroecology and Agriculture, Zurich.Subsequently, Dr. Fried became Head of the Department of Crop Protection and later Head of the Department of Ecological Farming Systemsat the same research station. Currently he is responsible for the International Relations of the Institute. Dr. Fried was co-editor of the Journalof Plant Diseases and Plant Protection and is a member of the Board of the Indo-Swiss Collaboration in Biotechnology (ISCB). Dr. Fried alsolectures on integrated and organic farming at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and at Universities in China and Romania.

Mr. Walter Fust

Mr. Walter Fust is Director-General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. He entered the Swiss diplomatic service in 1975and was assigned to Bern, Geneva, Baghdad and Tokyo. From 1983 to 1986, he held various positions within the federal government, amongothers as the head of the Integration Office and personal adviser to Federal Councillor Dr. Kurt Furgler. In 1986, he was elected as ManagingDirector of the Swiss Office for Trade Promotion. From 1990 to August 1993 he served as Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior. Since1993 he has been Director-General of SDC. Mr. Fust is Chairman of the Board of the “Global Knowledge Partnership GKP.” He is also a mem-ber of the United Nations Task Force on ICTs. Furthermore he is member of the Steering Committee of the “Global Governance Initiative” ofthe World Economic Forum (WEF) and of the Policy Committee of the Global Coalition for Africa.

Dr. Hans Jöhr

Dr. Hans Jöhr is the Corporate Head of Agriculture at Nestlé in Vevey, Switzerland. As such, Dr. Jöhr is responsible for providing technicaland strategic leadership in the group’s worldwide agricultural raw material supply chain. This includes the agricultural policy, the raw materi-al quality control and R&D. Dr. Jöhr joined Nestlé in April 2000. Dr. Jöhr is a member of the Board of IPC (International Policy Council onAgriculture Food and Trade) and a member of the Advisory Council of the Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (seco). Recently, hebecame Director of Board of CATIE Costa Rica (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Centre). He also serves as the chair-man of SIPPO (Swiss Import Promotion Programme); Dr. Jöhr is past-president of IAMA (International Food and Agribusiness ManagementAssociation) and past-president of the Swiss-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in Sâo Paulo, Brazil. Dr. Jöhr has a formal education in agri-cultural economics, completed with a doctorate degree in economic science and management programmes at INSEAD (l’Institut Européend’Administration des Affaires, Fontainebleau, France) and IMD (International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland).

Dr. Frank Pervanchon

Dr. Pervanchon is an expert in sustainability assessment for a federation of French associations of agricultural employees and farmers(http://www.trame.org). Dr. Pervanchon trains farmers to assess farming systems and include sustainable development in farm strategy. Healso works with farmers to develop methodologies and tools for assessment of farms as well as to organize farm networks to promote self-improvement through the exchange of practices. Dr. Pervanchon is a journalist for Travaux et Innovations, a journal that provides advice tofarmers.

Mr. Géraud Servin

An engineer agronomist, Mr. Servin graduated from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. He has worked in the agri-business sectorbefore joining the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy. Mr. Servin has developed the Global TerrestrialObserving System and focused on strengthening the management of geospatial data and information. Recently he became closely involvedin knowledge management related to corporate activities.

The Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL) is the Swiss centre for agriculture, forestry and dairy technology within theUniversities of Applied Sciences. Besides education, it is active in applied research and development as well as providing services inSwitzerland and abroad. The research focuses on holistic approaches to optimize agricultural production and to minimize negativeecological impacts. SHL is specialized in “on-farm research” and carries out interdisciplinary projects in which solutions of high prac-tical relevance are developed in collaboration with the stakeholders. Project results and experiences are converted into practical rec-ommendations and decision support tools that can be directly used by the stakeholders in agriculture, forestry and dairy technology.

The project group RISE (Response-Inducing Sustainability Evaluation) has developed a model to assess the sustainability of farms and,at the same time, identify possibilities for improvement. The holistic sustainability assessment follows a systems approach and identifiesstrengths (potentials) and weaknesses with regard to sustainability. As a monitoring tool RISE can visualize trends and developmentsover time on individual farms as well as within regions and samples. RISE was tested and used for the public and private sector by eval-uating different farm types in Brazil, Canada, China, India, Lebanon, Switzerland and Ukraine. RISE is adapted and improved on a con-tinuous basis and a complementary methodology to assess the sustainability of entire supply chains is being developed.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development contributes to sustainable development by advancingpolicy recommendations on international trade and investment, economic policy, climate change, measurement and assessment, andnatural resources management. Through the Internet, we report on international negotiations and share knowledge gained throughcollaborative projects with global partners, resulting in more rigorous research, capacity building in developing countries and betterdialogue between North and South.

IISD’s vision is better living for all—sustainably; its mission is to champion innovation, enabling societies to live sustainably. IISD isregistered as a charitable organization in Canada and has 501(c)(3) status in the United States. IISD receives core operating supportfrom the Government of Canada, provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the InternationalDevelopment Research Centre (IDRC) and Environment Canada; and from the Province of Manitoba. The institute receives projectfunding from numerous governments inside and outside Canada, United Nations agencies, foundations and the private sector.

Mr. Wilfrid Legg Dr. Kathy Lewis

Dr. László Pintér Mr. Frédéric ZahmDr. Christoph StuderMr. Eduardo Sampaio

Mr. David PendlingtonMr. Björn KüstermannMr. Vinzenz Jung

Dr. Claudia R. Binder Mr. Manfred Bötsch Dr. Padruot M. Fried Mr. Walter Fust Dr. Fritz Häni

Dr. Hans Herren Dr. Hans Jöhr

Dr. Frank Pervanchon Mr. Géraud Servin

Presenters

A Dialogue on Sustainable Agricultureinfasa

www. i i sd.o rg/measure/communi ty / in fasa • www.sh l .b fh.ch • www. i i sd.o rg

We acknowledge the generous support of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and: