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Key Challenge: Global food systems face climate shocks, pandemics, and conflicts, yet lack standardized metrics to track sustainability (long-term environmental/social/economic balance) and resilience (capacity to absorb/recover from disruptions). This gap impedes evidence-based policy and progress toward UN SDGs.

Key Findings:

• No Consensus: Definitions and metrics for sustainability/resilience vary widely across regions (e.g., Europe vs. Africa) and scales (farm vs. global supply chains). Only 3% of studies integrated both concepts.

• Methodological Gaps:

  • Sustainability is often assessed via Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) but overlooks social equity (e.g., gender inclusion).

  • Resilience lacks standardized metrics; Food-Energy-Water Nexus (FEWN) approaches show promise but are underutilized.

• Geographic Imbalances: 80% of case studies focus on Europe/North America, neglecting vulnerable regions (e.g., Mediterranean Africa). Farm-level analysis dominates, while global supply chains are rarely studied.

Practical Guidance for Policymakers & Practitioners:

1. Adopt Context-Specific Metrics:

   • Co-create indicators with local stakeholders (e.g., farmers, communities) to reflect regional needs (e.g., water scarcity in Mediterranean climates).

   • Combine LCA (environmental impacts) and FEWN (resource interdependencies) for holistic assessments.

2. Bridge Scales and Sectors:

   • Link local data (e.g., farm productivity) with national/global policies (e.g., trade resilience) using multi-scale frameworks.

   • Integrate social metrics (e.g., wage equity, cultural inclusion) alongside economic/environmental indicators.

3. Prioritize Understudied Areas:

   • Invest in research in climate-vulnerable regions (e.g., Africa, Asia) and global supply chains to address COVID-19-style disruptions.

Applications:

• Policy Design: Use co-created metrics to set baselines for SDG tracking (e.g., reducing food waste by 50%).

• Funding Allocation: Direct resources toward flexible, adaptive systems (e.g., drought-resistant crops in water-scarce regions).

• Stakeholder Collaboration: Establish platforms for researchers, farmers, and ministries to align metrics with local realities.

Conclusion: Moving beyond fragmented approaches requires stakeholder-driven, adaptable metrics. Prioritizing methodological rigor (e.g., FEWN/LCA integration) and equitable geographic focus will enable resilient, sustainable food transformations.