Developing social science methods for evaluating sustainability in Norwegian feed system for livestock and aquaculture

The project SocialFeed starts from the premise that existing social sustainability standards, certification schemes and tools lack the national context and need to be improved to capture the real social impacts of a complex system like the feed system in Norway consisting of both local production and significantly large import. For this international value chain, it is important to investigate how Norwegian consumption of high-quality feed ingredients can impact food security in other regions in the world and simultaneously evaluate the role Norway plays in accelerating sustainability in the global south. Three main cases i.e. cattle, chicken and salmon and their current feed ingredients along with the most promising novel feed ingredients of the future will be evaluated using methods like Social Life Cycle Assessment, Power mapping and Product chain organization. The project aims to find out if Norwegian feed system has a 'Net Positive Social Footprint' or not. To meet this challenging goal and provide a more comprehensive assessment of the social impacts, the project will work closely the stakeholders to acquire the necessary data to implement the adequate set of indicators. Stakeholders like feed ingredient suppliers, feed producers, farmers, NGOs and branch organizations will be actively involved through workshops, interviews and pilot testing to provide proof of concept. Furthermore, an analysis of the institutional policy framework surrounding domestic production and imports will be conducted to explore policy options that result in more sustainable solutions. SocialFeed will produce a firm foundation on social sustainability assessments towards the agri- and aquaculture industry in Norway and fill the knowledge gaps that exists today. Lastly, the project will act as a communication platform for bringing both the green and blue sector together to co-create a common understanding of social sustainability of the Norwegian feed system.

The project SocialFeed starts from the premise that existing standards have a narrow /limited (and misleading) take on social sustainability and do not capture pertinent 'matters of concern' well enough. This shortcoming may neglect the importance of the social part of sustainability for feed production whether Norwegian or imported. To explore this, three main cases i.e. cattle, chicken and salmon and their current feed ingredients along with the most promising novel feed ingredients of the future will be included. Methods like Social Life Cycle Assessment, Power mapping and Product chain organization will be applied to assess the sustainability performance of the feed system in Norway, that includes both local production and significantly large import. An improved set of social indicators will be developed to capture both the positive and negative social impacts and can be further used to assess if Norwegian feed system has a 'Net Positive Social Footprint'. To meet this challenging goal and provide a more comprehensive assessment of the social impacts, SocialFeed will work with the stakeholders closely to acquire the necessary data to implement the adequate set of indicators. Key stakeholders like feed ingredient suppliers, feed producers, farmers, NGOs and branch organizations will be actively involved through workshops, interviews and pilot testing to provide proof of concept. Furthermore, an analysis of the institutional policy framework surrounding domestic Norwegian feed production and imports will be conducted to explore policy options that result in more sustainable feed solutions. Lastly, the project will act as a communication platform for bringing both the green and blue sector together to co-create a common understanding of social sustainability of the Norwegian feed system.