Recognising the value of nature and people in India’s agri-food value chains: A capital approach for business decision-making

Abstract

As India advances towards sustainable agriculture, it is important to consider not just which practices are adopted, but also how their broader effects and value are understood across agrifood value chains. This is especially relevant for farmer-led enterprises, where sustainable practices must support environmental outcomes and viable livelihoods together. While conventional business measures are not designed to capture these, the TEEBAgriFood framework brings dependencies and impacts across natural, produced, human and social capital into enterprise-level decision-making through a holistic accounting approach. In India, farmer are serving as the primary target group applying this approach, bringing dispersed production systems and collective business decisions within a common enterprise framework, and creating a basis for demonstrating and negotiating the wider value of sustainable agriculture practices within markets. Drawing on implementation across Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Assam, emerging lessons point to how such accounting can inform business decisions, strengthen market propositions and contribute to more nature-positive and resilient agri-food value chains.