Data for: A hierarchical framework for unpacking the nitrogen challenge

To feed the world population while mitigating pressing nitrogen (N) pollution problems, tremendous efforts have been devoted to developing and implementing N-efficient technologies in food production, but limited progress has been made. The N management improvement on a farm does not necessarily translate to N pollution reduction on a broader scale due to complex responses of natural and human systems and lack of coordination among stakeholders. Consequently, it is imperative to develop an N management framework that encompasses the complex N dynamics across systems and spatial scales, yet simple enough to guide policies and actions of various stakeholders. Here, we propose a new framework, CAFE, that defines four N management systems (Cropping, Animal-crop, Food, and Ecosystem) in a hierarchical manner, and apply it to 13 representative countries to partition N surpluses across systems in a simple and consistent manner, thereby facilitating the identification and prioritization of syst..., Data of nitrogen contents and the classification of different crop and animal products were provided in Supplementary Data “SI_DataS1”, data of nitrogen budgets across CAFE system during the defined periods for the selected countries can be access from Supplementary Data “SI_DataS2”.,