The agrofood systems in France, Spain and Portugal at a NUT2 resolution for the 2014-2019 period (GRAFS Data set)

The GRAFS approach (Generalized Representation of Agro-food systems) describes the agro-food system by considering four main components exchanging nutrient flows: cropland, grassland, livestock systems, and local population. The agro-food system is documented here for the period 2014–2019, at the territorial level of the EU administrative units NUTS2, in terms of N for (i) nutrient inputs to the soil (exogenous fertilization such as synthetic and/or organic fertilization and atmospheric deposition, as well as symbiotic fixation); (ii) the feed required for the existing livestock; (iii) the size of the human population, its dietary preferences, and its excreta; and (iv) food and feed imports/exports (Billen et al., 2018; 2021). These N flows link grassland and cropland productivity (from annual and perennial crops) to livestock feeding, and, finally, to human food. Detailed figures for these different components are presented in the joint Table.

Using the GRAFS approach to our study area, we also expand upon the approach used by Le Noë et al. (2018), which established different typologies of the agro-food systems in France. This approach intends to describe the degree of coupling between crop and livestock farming, local production/consumption to shows regional differences (see Table 1SM for a detailed description of the different typologies defined). The GRAFS approach also allows to calculates, NH3 volatisization and N2O emission, as well as leaching concentration (the net soil surplus as a proxy).