Development of a decision support system for sustainability assessment in agricultural small and medium enterprises: a pilot test in northern Italy's strawberry farms

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in the sustainability of the agricultural sector, particularly in regions like Italy, where farmers are usually small-scale, family-run and highly diverse in production practices. Despite their importance, SMEs frequently struggle to implement sustainable practices due to limited resources and lack of expertise. To address this challenge, this study presents the development of a Decision Support System (DSS), based on a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) framework, designed to enable agricultural SMEs to evaluate their sustainability performances, in a practical and accessible way. The DSS adopts a hierarchical framework, with 32 indicators grouped into 11 criteria and 2 domains, environmental and socio-economic. Indicators were carefully selected to balance scientific rigor with usability, prioritizing the ease of data collection for farmers and relevance. A participatory approach, involving stakeholders, was employed to define and weigh the indicators. A pilot test with seven Italian strawberry SMEs provided valuable insights for the calibration, demonstrating the DSS’ ability to generate robust and comparable sustainability scores and to highlight areas of strength and potential improvements. The results suggest that the tool might support informed decision-making and promote the adoption of more sustainable practices. By combining scientific methodology with practical usability, the DSS represents a bridge between research and the operational needs of agricultural SMEs, offering a promising approach to advance sustainability in the agricultural sector. Furthermore, this study underscores the importance of user-centered design in sustainability assessment tools.