Corporate social responsibility in agribusiness: evidence in Latin America

Abstract

Purpose

Agribusiness has stood out in the economy sector as a form of countryside-city interaction due to its productive chain characterized by modernization coming from cities, especially in the industrial area. Thus, the present study analyzed corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context of agribusiness, based on a survey of articles published in the Scopus database. The main objective of the research is to analyze whether the agribusiness sector has incorporated CSR into its internal policy.

Design/methodology/approach

For this, the methodology used was researching through a systematic literature review, in which 14,720 documents on CSR were found. When restricting the search for CSR in agribusiness, 44 articles were found, and it was noticed that three were based on analysis in Latin America, which were the object of the study.

Findings

From this, it was realized that the literature on the subject is scarce, but of fundamental importance for its adoption in the sector, as it brings economic and environmental benefits not only to companies but also to society as a whole.

Research limitations/implications

Although CSR is not yet the total solution to socioeconomic and environmental problems, it can be used as a strategy for raising companies’ awareness, based on the development of an organizational environmental culture, which brings competitive advantages over competitors who adopt them.

Originality/value

The topic of CSR is a recent discussion in the academic field, which is why it has few studies. Thus initially, we sought to analyze it in the scenario in Latin America, as presented in the present work. However, as a future stage of research in the area of CSR, this topic will be analyzed as an academic master’s degree in the context of the BRIC countries.

Citation

Mello, M.M.M., Freitas, W.R.d.S., Teixeira, A.A., Caldeira-Oliveira, J.H. and Freitas-Silva, L.G. (2021), "Corporate social responsibility in agribusiness: evidence in Latin America", Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 538-551. https://doi.org/10.1108/JADEE-04-2020-0071