Seven global organizations, including the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, have launched a practitioner’s guide to sustainable sourcing of agricultural raw materials. The guide is an open source innovation tool that captures real-life best practice and experiences from global corporations within a strategic, business logic-focused framework. It provides a user-friendly step-by-step roadmap to building and rolling out sustainable agriculture sourcing strategies.
Climate change, increasing pressure on natural resources, and continuing poverty and social inequity are affecting crops and water supply globally. 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 skillsets.
To help companies convert these risks to business opportunities, seven organizations collaborated to produce the guide, which pools knowledge and resources. 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.
“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,” said Ernesto A. Brovelli, President of the SAI Platform and Senior Manager, Sustainable Agriculture with The Coca-Cola Co.
