The sustainability indicator industry: where to from here? A focus group study to explore the potential of farmer participation in the development ofindicators

In Australia, the work being carried out on sustainability indicators has b ecome an industry on its own. This paper firstly provides an introduction t hat reviews the literature on indicator development and use, particularly i n relation to agricultural production systems. A number of reasons for the limited use of indicators by farmers are mentioned. Secondly, a focus group study involving farmers from two dryland cropping areas in Queensland to i nvestigate sustainability indicators and sustainable farming systems is pre sented. The indicators the participants identified during focus groups incl uded indicators that reflect (i) farming system components, (ii) the manage ment of these components, (iii) the management of all components and their interrelationships at the systems level, and (iv) the external factors that influence and interact with this systems level. Focus group analysis also showed that the participants perceived sustainability as an on-going proces s and a sustainable farming system as dynamic and emergent in nature. The i mplications of these findings are discussed. Three key issues were raised ( i) the value of farmer knowledge with respect to the development of indicat ors has often been ignored; (ii) there are links between indicators develop ed through traditional science and those being used by farmers; and (iii) o ff-farm indicators used by farmers may be very useful in policy development at a variety of levels (e.g. catchment, regional, national, global). The f ocus group method involving farmers provided a useful way to gain insights about farmer perceptions and for farmers to learn from each other during th e research process.