Global population growth, especially in developing countries, will most likely require
an increase in agricultural production, but the sustainability of this production cannot be achieved
without the preservation of ecosystem functions. Therefore, farmers need to know about, and deal
with, the trade-offs between agricultural productivity and ecosystem functions and services. This
review aims to assess practical science-based tools that can be used to make decisions for sustainable
agricultural production. We reviewed 184 articles and divided them into categories depending on
whether they describe tools, practices, ecosystem services, models, or other topics. Although many
studies were global in scope, the approach to analyzing and assessing trade-offs appears to vary
geographically. The review showed that trade-offs between agricultural productivity and ecosystem
functions are most commonly studied in Europe and Asia, while few studies have been conducted in
sub-Saharan Africa. Most tools in the review addressed only one or a bundle of ecosystem services,
related to water, biodiversity, or climate regulation, and were designed for different types of land
use and ecosystems and applicable at different scales. More practical tools for trade-off analysis
have mainly been developed and applied by development organizations with support from science.
Closer collaboration between practitioners, development organizations, and scientists is suggested
to foster co-development of tools useful for identifying sustainable strategies for closing the yield
gap, increasing productivity and for balancing ecosystem services, building on the Sustainable
Development Goal’s framework and its targets for agricultural productivity and ecosystem services
for trade-off analysis. We recommend the development and fine-tuning of the identified tools to
specific contexts and landscapes through innovation platforms bringing together farmers, extension
workers, scientists, and local decision-makers.

agriculture; productivity; ecosystem functions; trade-offs; assessment tools 1. Introduction productivity