FDBusiness.com

Seven global organizations, including the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative – SAI Platform, have launched the world’s first practitioner’s guide to sustainable sourcing of agricultural raw materials. The guide is an open source innovation tool that captures, in a single document, real-life best practice and experiences from global corporations within a strategic, business logic focused framework. It empowers managers by providing a user-friendly step-by step roadmap to building and rolling out sustainable agriculture sourcing strategies effectively.

Climate change, increasing pressure on natural resources and continuing poverty and social inequity are affecting crops and water supply globally. As the food and beverage industry is the world’s biggest purchaser of agricultural raw materials, this is a significant industry risk. For a secure, safe and increasing supply, crops must be grown and sourced in a sustainable manner taking full account of environmental, social and economic considerations. Doing this effectively calls for changes in managerial mind-sets and specific knowledge and skill sets.

To help companies convert these risks to business opportunities, a unique collaboration between seven high profile organizations has led to the production of the guide. The guide pools knowledge and resources, but collaborative outreach will also be an important part of assuring its impact. The collaborating partners are: the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, the CSL Learning Platform of IMD’s Global Center for Sustainability Leadership, the International Trade Centre, and the Sustainable Trade Initiative. Furthermore, BSR, the Sedex Information Exchange and the Sustainable Food Laboratory also contributed to the development of the guide and are supporting its outreach.

Dr Ernesto A. Brovelli, President of the SAI Platform and Senior Manager, Sustainable Agriculture with The Coca-Cola Company, comments: ”This work reflects the spirit of the SAI Platform; one which aligns farmers and the food and beverage industry behind a common pursuit. Following a compelling narrative and clear examples, this publication is breaking ground in helping the reader navigate the path towards more sustainable sourcing.”