Millions of smallholders live in poverty, unable to meet basic needs. Smallholder farmers need to improve their incomes and competitiveness if they are to achieve and sustain a decent standard of living, reinvest in their farms, and continue to supply a sustainable crop to multinational companies. The business benefits of investing in smallholder supply chains…
DetailsAddressing malnutrition in value chains can be good for business: it can contribute to higher productivity and contribute to the integrity of brands. But, when and how to measure ‘nutrition’ can be complex and what can be done is not always straightforward. Join us for an introduction by the Sustainable Food Lab (www.sustainablefood.org), and presentations by Bärbel Weiligmann and Christina Nyhus Dhillon, nutritionist…
DetailsThe booming organic industry continues to be a bright spot for growth in the US farm economy averaging double-digit growth over the last five years. While the organic industry thrives, acres used for organic production in the US are not growing fast enough to keep up and hover around 2% of total US agriculture with…
DetailsDespite the title, this blog is not about sex, unless we consider the teeming reproductive activity of billions of micro-organisms in every tablespoon of fertile soil. I’m writing for those who wonder how important soil health is. Over the years, advocates for sustainable agriculture have promoted the importance of many different goals: fewer pesticides, less…
DetailsSAMBAVA MADAGASCAR (May 18, 2017) – The US Department of Labor (USDOL) has provided $ 4 million to the International Labor Office (ILO) to support Madagascar in promoting a sustainable vanilla sector, in particular through promoting decent work and fighting against child labor in the vanilla sector in the SAVA region. Read more.
Check out the video from Expo West 2017 with speakers from Dr. Bronner’s, Sustainable Food Lab, Carbon Underground, Soil & More International, and Numi Tea
The last two decades have seen an increasing emphasis on company and supply chain driven approaches to promote sustainable production and trade of agricultural commodities. Large food and commodity traders, processors and brands – sometimes supported by development donors – have congregated around the value chain as the locus for interventions in support of legality,…
DetailsFor a start let’s not assume sustainable agriculture will automatically solve food insecurity Sustainable Development Goal 2 is often referred to as the hunger goal, or as the agriculture goal. In fact the goal is to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. The targets that need to be achieved…
DetailsContributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represents a significant value creating opportunity for business. According to the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, achieving the SDGs will create up to US$12 trillion of market opportunities[1] for companies across the four economic systems studied in its landmark report Better Business, Better World (food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials…
DetailsA senior sustainability leader commented the other day that sustainable sourcing programs might be in danger of hitting their targets while missing the point. As sustainability is operationalized, we might be in the weeds of compliance and lose sight of larger goals. Sustainable sourcing generally requires asking suppliers to complete self-assessment questionnaires that can be…
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