We have reviewed the literature evaluating the sustainability performance of food systems in the South. This literature is recent, diverse and heavily represented by studies using quantitative methods. However, there is a need to define food systems more systematically and to develop analytical frameworks that generate actionable knowledge to guide investment in research and shape policies in favour of more sustainable food systems.

Conceptual framework, Food systems, Methodology, Interdisciplinarity

Special issue edited by Marjorie Le Bars and Eric Verger for the journal Current Research in Environmental Sustainability on the sustainability of family farming.

Sustainability, Agriculture, Agroecology

The current context of interlinked crises weighs heavily on agricultural and food trajectories, even though sustainability implies rethinking the frameworks of action. This text—which introduces the section of the same name—approaches the question of decision-making in agriculture and food from the angle of the dilemma. It provides a heuristic and interaction-oriented framework to account for complex situations and the Cornelian choices to which any protagonist is exposed. It is likely to promote a better understanding of the issues at stake and the effects of trade-offs in a context of uncertainty, fragmented information and power asymmetries.

Sustainability, Conceptual framework, Agriculture, Food systems