Regionalized Safe Operating Spaces of Agricultural Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) for Climate, Nature, and Food Security

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is already embedded in SDG reporting, corporate disclosure and regenerative agriculture frameworks, yet coherent, regionally relevant targets are still missing. This concept note proposes a globally applicable framework of crop- and region-specific “safe operating spaces” for NUE. Lower thresholds are set by climate, biodiversity, air, water and health limits, and upper thresholds protect yields, farm profitability and soil health. Developed by an expert group following iN-Net’s annual workshop in Nairobi, the note outlines the scientific building blocks, a three-phase implementation pathway and candidate pilot countries.