Social Indicators for Canadian Agriculture

Charting progress on the social dimension of sustainable development

Many social challenges faced by the agriculture and agri-food sector are important to address when considering a sustainable path. Charting progress in meeting these challenges in a sustainable way requires identification and simultaneous tracking of economic, environmental and social indicators. Operational indicator systems are needed to avoid compromising economic performance, environmental quality or social well-being beyond certain limits and for an extended period of time, as this would work against the sustainability of Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector.

In contrast with economic and environmental indicators, efforts to identify and incorporate social indicators into sector planning and decision-making have been less coordinated. To meet this need, collaborative research is currently being done by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and IISD to develop a set of social indicators for Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector.

A framework that structures the social dimension has been developed, and incorporates elements of social capital and individual well-being. Although several social frameworks already exist with some relevance for the agriculture and agri-food sector, their scope needed to be explicitly extended to cover social issues at the level of individuals and social organizations. Furthermore, at the individual level, human development has several constituents that are not adequately captured by the per capita income measure; hence, both economic and non-economic measures of individual well-being are incorporated.

The next step, developing indicators for priority social issues identified by stakeholders, is underway. We are currently selecting four of these issues for which to develop and pilot test indicators.

For more information, contact IISD Project Officer Carissa Wieler.