Concepts and conceptions of sustainable development for agriculture and food production

Sustainable development is a challenging vision for the governance and management of agriculture and food production. On the one hand, it aims to make these systems more just. On the other hand, it is seen as a very vague concept that everyone can somehow agree on, but that means many things to many people. It seems doubtful whether it can even guide governance and management and bring the promised and hoped-for progress towards a fairer future of e.g. agriculture and food production. This paper argues first that the openness of sustainable development is a strength (rather than a weakness) since because of its openness it can guide people’s actions within very different contexts and, second, that the distinction between concepts and conceptions of sustainable development helps to specify guidelines for governance and management. Based on a literature review this paper identifies a conceptual core (concept) of sustainable development. On this basis it indicates how this concept can be translated into coherent practical recommendations (conceptions) for the governance and management of agriculture and food production.