Advancing Life-Cycle Assessment for Evaluating Sustainable Agrifood Systems

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has long been applied to industrial systems but is increasingly recognized for its role in evaluating the environmental sustainability of agricultural systems. However, agricultural systems differ significantly from industrial systems in important ways that, if not properly accounted for, would lead to misleading estimates, necessitating modifications in many cases to the traditional LCA framework. This study reviewed several key differences of agricultural systems, including land use constraints, spatial heterogeneity, and multifaceted co-products. Through a systematic literature search conducted in Web of Science (2005–2024), we identified relevant studies on indirect land use change (iLUC), spatial variability, and biogeochemical modeling in agriculture. Our findings reveal that incorporating iLUC into LCA can lead to significant changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions estimates, with variations ranging from 19% to over 1000%, depending on the models and assumptions used. We also developed a decision framework for determining when spatial disaggregation is necessary versus when national or regional averages would suffice and discussed the implications of this for LCA conclusions. Our review highlights the importance of accounting for agricultural system variability, particularly with respect to integrating biogeochemical models and temporal dynamics, which have been largely overlooked in traditional LCA models. Furthermore, we address the challenges of allocating environmental impacts in multifunctional agricultural systems, offering recommendations for more transparent and context-specific approaches. These insights provide LCA practitioners with actionable guidance for improving the accuracy and relevance of agricultural sustainability assessments.