During her PhD, Mónica Quevedo-Cascante explored the environmental impacts of agroforestry systems (AFS). As these systems are highly dynamic and multifunctional, evaluating their positive and negative interactions is complex. By using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the research offers insights into how AFS perform across the food value chain. The work addresses two central questions using a product-level perspective: what can LCA tell us about the net environmental and climate impacts of foods from AFS, and how do methodological choices influence the findings?

Through a comparative analysis of multiple case studies, this PhD provides a comprehensive overview of how different food products from AFS perform globally in an LCA context. It explores various LCA methods to address the complexities of these systems and develops datasets to support future LCA research.

The PhD study was completed at the Department of Agroecology, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student.

Time: Tuesday, 18 February 2025 at 10:00am
Place: 8814-3075, Auditorium,  Aarhus University, Foulum, Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele
Title of PhD thesis: Environmental Life Cycle Assessment and Food Systems: The Case Study of Agroforestry
Contact information: Mónica Quevedo-Cascante, e-mail: moqc@agro.au.dk
Members of the assessment committee:
Associate Professor Christel Renaud-Gentié, ESA-INRAE, L’École supérieure des agricultures, France
Associate Professor Ulf Sonesson, RISE (Research Institute of Sweden), Department Agriculture and Food, Sweden
Senior researcher Iris Vogeler, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University (chair)
Main supervisor:
Professor, Marie Trydeman Knudsen, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark
Co-supervisor:
Associate Professor, Lisbeth Mogensen, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark
Co-supervisor:
Post-doc, Teodora Dorca-Preda, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

The defence is public.

The PhD thesis is available for reading at the Graduate School of Technical Sciences/GSTS, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, 8000 Aarhus C.