Sustainability index approach of the Paraguayan Chaco dry biome in Integrated systems of animal production (ISAP).
Abstract
The increasing demand for food production while reducing environmental impacts is one of the main challenges for the livestock sector. In the Paraguayan Dry Chaco, extensive livestock production systems are predominant, with pastures playing a key role in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, sustainability in these systems is highly dependent on proper grazing management and the integration of productive, environmental, and social dimensions. This study aims to develop a Sustainability Index (iSos) adapted to Integrated Animal Production Systems (ISAP), using the SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems) guidelines established by the FAO. The iSos index incorporates four key dimensions: economic resilience, social well-being, environmental integrity, and good governance. Indicators were selected and weighted through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with the participation of 42 experts in sustainable livestock systems. The results revealed that economic resilience was prioritized over environmental and social factors, with indicators such as net income, cash flow, and water management being the most valued. The study highlights the need to integrate sustainability tools into livestock production to enhance efficiency, profitability, and environmental responsibility. The iSus index serves as a practical, low-cost tool for evaluating sustainability in the Paraguayan Dry Chaco, providing valuable information for producers, policymakers, and researchers.
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References
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Irisarri, J. G., Derner, J. D., Ritten, J. P., Peck, D. E. 2019. Beef production and net revenue variability from grazing systems on semiarid grasslands of North America, Livestock Sci.220, 93-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2018.12.009
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Ocampos Olmedo, D. A., Paniagua, P. L., Alonzo Griffith, L. A., & Portillo, G. A. (2023). Ciclo de carbono de los sistemas de producción de ganado vacuno de carne basados en pastos nativos en la zona del Pantanal del Chaco paraguayo. Archivos Latinoamericanos De Producción Animal, 31(1), 103-114. https://doi.org/10.53588/alpa.310107
Pérez-Lombardini, F., Mancera, K.F., Suzán, G., Campo, J., Solorio, J., Galindo, F. 2021. Assessing Sustainability in Cattle Silvopastoral Systems in the Mexican Tropics Using the SAFA Framework. Animals. 1, 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11010109
Saaty T.L. 1990. How to make a decision: The Analytic Hierarchy Process How to make a decision: The Analytic Hierarchy Process. Eur. J. Oper. Res. 48, 9-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/0377-2217(90)90057-I
SENACSA. Servicio Nacional de Calidad y Salud animal. Archivos históricos. https://senacsa.gov.py/servicios/servicios-tecnicos/estadisticas/resumenes-estadisticos-historicos/ (Accessed in: January, 2023).
Toro-Mujica, P., García, A., Gómez-Castro, G., Acero, R., Perea, J., Rodriguez-Estevez, V. 2011. Sustainability of agroecosystems. Archivos de Zootecnia 60: 15-39.
Van der Linden, A., de Olde, E.M., Mostert, P.F., de Boer, I.J.M. 2020. A review of European models to assess the sustainability performance of livestock production systems. Agric. Syst. 182, 102842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102842
Vargas, R. V.; IPMA-B, P. M. P. 2010. Using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to select and prioritize projects in a portfolio. In: PMI global congress. v.32, n. 3, pp. 1-22. Avaliable at: http://iwave.ru/files/2272/ricardo_vargas_ahp_project_selection_en.pdf
Wedekin, I. Economia da pecuária de corte. São Paulo: Wedekin Consultores, 2017. 180p.
Alary, V., Corbeels, M., Affholder, F., Alvarez, S., Soria, A., Valadares-Xavier, J., da Silva, F., Scopel, E. 2016. Economic assessment of conservation agriculture options in mixed crop-livestock systems in Brazil using farm modelling. Agricultural Systems 144: 33-45. Comisión Mundial del Medio Ambiente y del Desarrollo, 1988. Nuestro futuro común. Alianza Editorial S.A. Madrid. 460 pp.
Australian Sustainability Beef Framework. 2020. Australian Sustainability Beef Framework Annual Report, Available at: https://www.sustainableaustralianbeef.com.au/ (Accedido en Octubre, 2024)
Barcellos, J.O.J., Suñe, Y.B.P., Semmelmann, C.E.N. et al. 2004. A bovinocultura de corte frente a agriculturização no sul do Brasil. In: Ciclo De Atualização Em Medicina Veterinária. 11,13-30.
Bell, L.W., Moore, A.D., Thomas, D.T. 2021 Diversified crop-livestock farms are risk-efficient in the face of price and production variability. Agric. Syst.189,103050. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103050.
Berger, J., Hartway, C., & Gómez, H. (2017). Water availability and use by livestock in the Chaco. In South American Camelids Research (pp. 189-198). Springer, Cham.
CAN 2022. Censo Agropecuario Nacional. Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería. Direccion de Censos y Estadísticas agropecuarias -Paraguay. https://www.datos.gov.py/dataset/censo-agropecuario-nacional-can-2022. (Accessed in: January, 2023)
Calicioglu, O., Flammini, A., Bracco, S., Bellù, L., Sims, R. 2019.The Future Challenges of Food and Agriculture: An Integrated Analysis of Trends and Solutions. Sustainability. 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010222
Carvalho, P.C.F. et al. 2018. Animal production and soil characteristics from integrated crop-livestock systems: toward sustainable intensification. J. Anim. Sci. 96, 3513–3525. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/sky085
Carvalho, P.C.F., Anghinoni, I., de Moraes, A. et al. 2010. Managing grazing animals to achieve nutrient cycling and soil improvement in no-till integrated systems Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst. 88:259–273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-010-9360-x
Dinerstein, E., Bookbinder, M., Graham, D., et al (1995). A conservation assessment of the terrestrial ecorregions of Latin America and the Caribbean. Washington, D.C.: Banco Mundial.
Dos Reis, J., Kamoi, M., Latorraca, D., Chen, R., Michetti, M., Wruck, F., . . . Rodrigues-Filho, S. 2020. Assessing the economic viability of integrated crop−livestock systems in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Renew. Agric Food Syst. 35, 631-642. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170519000280
FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA). Indicators. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy, 2013. Available at: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/nr/sustainability_pathways/docs/SAFA_Indicators_final_19122013.pdf
Freitas, D. S., Oliveira, T. E., Oliveira, J. M. 2019.Sustainability in the Brazilian pampa biome: A composite index to integrate beef production, social equity, and ecosystem conservation. Ecol. Indic.98, 317–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.10.012
Garnett, T., Appleby, M. C., Balmford, A., Bateman, I. J., Benton, T. G., Bloomer, P., et al. 2013. Sustainable intensification in agriculture: premises and policies. Science. 341, 33–34. http://10.1126/science.1234485
Giraudo, A. R., & Bellocq, M. I. (2014). Avances en el conocimiento de la biodiversidad del Gran Chaco. Revista de la Asociación Argentina de Ecología de Paisajes, 5(1), 43-57.
Godfray,H. C. J. 2015. The debate over sustainable intensification. Food Secur. 2,199-208. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12571-015-0424-2
Grau, H. R., Gasparri, N. I., & Aide, T. M. (2008). Agriculture expansion and deforestation in seasonally dry forests of north-west Argentina. Environmental Conservation, 35(1), 62-72.
Herrero, M., Thornton P., Notenbaert, A., Wood, S., Msangi, S., Freeman, H., Bossio, D., Dixon, J., Peters, M., van de Steeg, J., Lynam, J., Parthasarathy, Rao, P., Macmillan, S., Gerard, B., McDermott, J., Seré, C., Rosegrant, M. 2010. Smart investments in sustainable food production: revisiting mixed crop-livestock systems. Science 327: 822-825.
Irisarri, J. G., Derner, J. D., Ritten, J. P., Peck, D. E. 2019. Beef production and net revenue variability from grazing systems on semiarid grasslands of North America, Livestock Sci.220, 93-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2018.12.009
Kassem, E.; Trenz, O.; Hřebiček, J., Faldik, O. 2017. Sustainability Assessment and Reporting in Agriculture Sector. Acta Univ. Agric. et Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 65,1359–1369. https://10.11118/actaun201765041359
Marchand, F., L. Debruyne, L. Triste, C. Gerrard, S. Padel, and L. Lauwers. 2014. Key characteristics for tool choice in indicator- based sustainability assessment at farm level. Ecol. Soc. 19(3): 46. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06876-190346
Navarro, J. L., Hilgert, N. I., & Quiroga, R. E. (2020). Efectos del cambio de uso de la tierra en la fauna silvestre del Gran Chaco Argentino: una revisión de la literatura. Mastozoología Neotropical, 27(2), 447-461.
Ocampos Olmedo, D. A., Paniagua, P. L., Alonzo Griffith, L. A., & Portillo, G. A. (2023). Ciclo de carbono de los sistemas de producción de ganado vacuno de carne basados en pastos nativos en la zona del Pantanal del Chaco paraguayo. Archivos Latinoamericanos De Producción Animal, 31(1), 103-114. https://doi.org/10.53588/alpa.310107
Pérez-Lombardini, F., Mancera, K.F., Suzán, G., Campo, J., Solorio, J., Galindo, F. 2021. Assessing Sustainability in Cattle Silvopastoral Systems in the Mexican Tropics Using the SAFA Framework. Animals. 1, 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11010109
Saaty T.L. 1990. How to make a decision: The Analytic Hierarchy Process How to make a decision: The Analytic Hierarchy Process. Eur. J. Oper. Res. 48, 9-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/0377-2217(90)90057-I
SENACSA. Servicio Nacional de Calidad y Salud animal. Archivos históricos. https://senacsa.gov.py/servicios/servicios-tecnicos/estadisticas/resumenes-estadisticos-historicos/ (Accessed in: January, 2023).
Toro-Mujica, P., García, A., Gómez-Castro, G., Acero, R., Perea, J., Rodriguez-Estevez, V. 2011. Sustainability of agroecosystems. Archivos de Zootecnia 60: 15-39.
Van der Linden, A., de Olde, E.M., Mostert, P.F., de Boer, I.J.M. 2020. A review of European models to assess the sustainability performance of livestock production systems. Agric. Syst. 182, 102842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102842
Vargas, R. V.; IPMA-B, P. M. P. 2010. Using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to select and prioritize projects in a portfolio. In: PMI global congress. v.32, n. 3, pp. 1-22. Avaliable at: http://iwave.ru/files/2272/ricardo_vargas_ahp_project_selection_en.pdf
Wedekin, I. Economia da pecuária de corte. São Paulo: Wedekin Consultores, 2017. 180p.
Published
2025-07-29
How to Cite
Ocampos Olmedo, Diego Avilio, and Pedro Luís Paniagua Alcaraz. 2025. “Sustainability Index Approach of the Paraguayan Chaco Dry Biome in Integrated Systems of Animal Production (ISAP).”. Archivos Latinoamericanos De Producción Animal 33 (2), 73-82. https://doi.org/10.53588/alpa.330203.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Diego Avilio Ocampos Olmedo, Pedro Luís Paniagua Alcaraz
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