Development of Health and Sustainability Indicators for a Tropical Highlands Agroecosystem - Integrated Assessment of Health and Sustainability of Agroecosystems - page 178

use of the health language is crucial in helping the communities to build a concep-
tual framework of the indicator selection process and the measurement and assess-
ment processes. Presenting the agroecosystem as an individual whose health status
is unknown, indicators are defined as those measures that need to be taken to make
a statement on the health status on such an individual.
The results of this process demonstrate that agroecosystem health and sustain-
ability can be used as part of a community's decision support system. Communities
created action plans and revised and implemented them based on the information
derived from indicators. The process of indicator selection and measurement in itself
appeared to enhance collective action, while sensitizing communities to the underly-
ing biophysical and socioeconomic processes that had an impact on the health and
sustainability of their agroecosystem. Some practical improvements to the process
include the use of geographical information systems to enhance the quality and cost-
effectiveness of indicator measurement, development of self-reporting systems, and
automation of some reporting and feedback processes, which would increase the
cost-effectiveness of the overall process.
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