Sustainability information disclosure in the agri-food sector: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Purpose. There is a growing social demand for greater transparency of organisations on sustainability, this is on social and environmental issues. Sustainability in the agri-food sector poses a greater challenge, meanwhile, than in almost any other industry given the sector’s dependence on natural resources, the sheer volume of its inputs and its relationship with human well-being. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current state of research into sustainability reporting in the agri-food sector. Design/methodology/approach.A systematic review of the literature has been designed to explore papers published in academic journals included in the Web of Science (WoS) database. The methodology combines a quantitative bibliometric analysis with a qualitative content analysis of the scientific papers.Findings. The results show that agri-food sustainability, in general, is an emerging field of research despite the role it plays not only in feeding the world’s population but also in the management of natural resources. Sustainability disclosure by agri-food firms, in particular, has to date received very little attention from management and organisational scholars. There has been relatively little research on how agribusinesses engage in demonstrating sustainability through published sustainability reports. This is despite the importance of communicating with stakeholders in order for them to evaluate the company’s activities.Practical implications. There is a lack of research into the implementation of sustainability practices in the agri-food sector as well as how these practices are communicated to stakeholders once they are up and running. So, first, the agri-food firms must adopt an appropriate communication policy, disclosing information relevant for the stakeholders. The literature on sustainability disclosure in the agri-food sector, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and governance is relatively limited. So, second, further theoretical research is needed to explain observed behaviour in the sector.Originality/value. The paper presents a systematic review of the scientific literature on sustainability reporting in agri-food firms, an issue which has been much more widely addressed in other industries, but each sector needs to be studied individually to better appreciate its peculiarities and understand its complexity. The methodology combines a quantitative bibliometric analysis, using the VOSviewer software tool, with a qualitative content analysis of the scientific papers included in the final sample, applying a systematic study design to select and classify the articles via a logical and precisely defined process of inquiry. So the contribution of this work, from an academic point of view, is to enrich the sustainability reporting literature in the agri-food sector.