Agriculture Sustainability Assessment: A Case Study of Malakal State in South Sudan

Agriculture Sustainability Assessment is frequently hampered by data availability. Sustainability Agriculture is farming in sustainable ways, which means meeting societys present food and textile needs without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs it can be based on an understanding of ecosystem service. Several issues at international, national, and farm levels affect agricultural sustainability. the issues include social, environmental, and economic. Often they are addressed separately from each other. This study considers this line of thinking and suggests an agriculture sustainability framework for assessing Agriculture Sustainability Index (ASI) at Upper Nile State (Malakal) level. The proposed methodology and framework are explained in a case study of Upper Nile State Malakal in South Sudan. the assessment of (ASI) at the state level uses a newly proposed framework composed of the three main pillars of sustainability i. e. social, environmental and economic. Social pillar has a single category. Environmental pillar is subdivided into agriculture biodiversity, agriculture management practices, Agri- environmental quality, and exposure of agriculture land to natural disasters and soil quality. The economic pillar is further divided into economic indicators and productivity. The study also suggests fifty-seven indicators and under the selected categories. The study utilizes the allocation of weight to indicators and categories. Experts opinion is sought through questionnaire and assessed using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The indicator values are normalized using a proposed 5-point categorical scale. The ASI was assessed using the additive method by aggregating parameters weighted normalized values. The study proposes a new rating scale for ASI with color codes for easy interpretation. For Upper Nile State Malakal, ASI is assessed as 54.46 which is rated as moderate (yellow).