The Role of Biotechnology in Sustainable Agriculture: Views and Perceptions among Key Actors in the Swedish Food Supply Chain

Abstract

Researchers have put forward agricultural biotechnology as one possible tool for increasing food production and making agriculture more sustainable. In this paper, it is investigated how key actors in the Swedish food supply chain perceive the concept of agricultural sustainability and the role of biotechnology in creating more sustainable agricultural production systems. Based on policy documents and semi-structured interviews with representatives of five organizations active in producing, processing and retailing food in Sweden, an attempt is made to answer the following three questions: How do key actors in the Swedish food supply chain define and operationalize the concept of agricultural sustainability? Who/what influences these organizations' sustainability policies and their respective positions on agricultural biotechnology? What are the organizations' views and perceptions of biotechnology and its possible role in creating agricultural sustainability? Based on collected data, it is concluded that, although there is a shared view of the core constituents of agricultural sustainability among the organizations, there is less explicit consensus on how the concept should be put into practice or what role biotechnology can play in furthering agricultural sustainability.

Keywords

agricultural sustainability; biotechnology; sustainability policy; food production systems; environment; Sweden

Published in

Sustainability
2015, volume: 7, number: 6, pages: 7512-7529
Publisher: MDPI

SLU Authors

• Jonas, Elisabeth

  • Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Marstorp, Håkan

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Tidåker, Pernilla

  • Swedish Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering (JTI)

Global goals (SDG)

SDG2 Zero hunger
SDG12 Responsible consumption and production

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences
Genetics and Breeding in Agricultural Sciences

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su7067512

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/68474