Assessing the roles of crops and livestock in nutrient circularity and use efficiency in the agri-food-waste system: A set of indicators applied to an isolated tropical island
2023
Kleinpeter, Vivien | Alvanitakis, Manon | Vigne, Mathieu | Wassenaar, Tom | Lo Seen, Danny | Vayssières, Jonathan | Systèmes d'élevage méditerranéens et tropicaux (UMR SELMET) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut Agro Montpellier ; Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro) | Département Environnements et Sociétés (Cirad-ES) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) | Recyclage et risque (UPR Recyclage et risque) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) | Département Performances des systèmes de production et de transformation tropicaux (Cirad-PERSYST) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) | Territoires, Environnement, Télédétection et Information Spatiale (UMR TETIS) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-AgroParisTech-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | This work was co-funded by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) .
International audience
Show more [+] Less [-]English. Increasing nutrient circularity and use efficiency is a leading topic in the search for more sustainable agri-food-waste systems (AFWS). This paper proposes a method to assess the role of crops and livestock in nutrient circularity and use efficiency in an AFWS. The method is based on the analysis of nutrient flows, a detailed typology of flows, and a set of 3 groups of indicators to characterize (i) circularity between sub-systems, (ii) the process efficiency of the sub-systems and (iii) the efficiency of the AFWS. The method is illustrated using the nitrogen metabolism of the AFWS of a tropical Island, French Reunion Island. The island's current nitrogen use efficiency is very low (0.7%). Crops and livestock are major sources of inefficiencies due to their processes, they account for respectively, 42% and 9% of total AFWS inefficiency. However, crops and livestock are involved in circularity, as they play, respectively, a recycling receiver and recycling supplier role. Among the internal recycling routes between all sub-systems, 41% go to crops and 31% come from livestock. The paper argues that circularity and process efficiency are not objectives per se but means to achieve AFWS efficiency, and that the distinction between these three elements enable a systemic multi-level understanding of the roles of crops and livestock.
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