Agri commodities & sustainable landscapes

Retailers, food & beverage producers and consumers are increasingly demanding traceability information on product origins and sustainable production. They want a variety of questions answered, such as: does your supply chain have poor labour conditions at farms or processors sites? What are the carbon emissions of your products? Do any links exist with deforestation and if so, how can these be improved?

At the same time, future developments such as climate change will define your supply of agri products. Some areas will be severely affected by lower productivity levels caused by droughts or more intense pest control. How can you effectively manage these risks or pro-actively improve the resilience of farmers?

Catalyse sustainable agri trade by gaining more transparency in global product flows and developing focused intervention strategies in production areas.

Our robust research, sector knowledge and scalable tools bring you closer to achieving your sustainability goals. We work in variety of supply chains, such as tea, cacao, coffee, palm oil, soy, and on all continents.

Do you have a question about the Agri Commodity Trading and and sustainability? Contact our experts: ir. YR (Yuca) Waarts MSc

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Our sustainability management cycle:

1. Sustainability strategy development & review

We sharpen your sustainability goals by exploring and prioritising the topics that need to be addressed and suggesting focus on specific regions and supply chains. We also carry out scans that provide insight into the status of your current sustainability performance, such as chain analyses. This results in a high-level roadmap that guides your next steps.

2. Sustainability improvement plan

We formulate concrete improvement options, such as training and other capacity-building exercises with tea farmers, to improve sustainable production. We also provide a set of recommended interventions that have been ex-ante tested for financial cost-benefits, expected support and impact.

3. Integrated sustainability monitoring

We monitor sustainability at a trader portfolio level or focus on specific (high-risk) rural areas, such as improvements in working conditions, de/reforestation, farm incomes and farm productivity. We provide a monitoring system that tracks the different steps towards sustainable improvement, from financial investment and the reach of farm programmes to the actual impact on carbon emissions, rural livelihoods and the overall sustainability profile or portfolio. Our monitors are delivered regularly in the form of reports and presentations. We also provide tailored dashboards and apps that show your real-time progress. You can easily share the output with your partners.

4. Implementation

During implementation, we can help you develop training programmes and other capacity-building exercises that can have a positive impact on environmentally-friendly farming. We can also facilitate dialogues in the value chain to address actionable improvements.

5. Sustainability impact evaluation

We determine the extent to which you have achieved your sustainability goals and whether you can link specific outcomes to the interventions. We also shed light on the cost-effectiveness of the interventions. Based on our extensive experience in executing robust mid-term or year-end evaluations, we can apply up-to-date techniques for conducting an independent, rigorous evaluation. The insights provide evidence on whether you are closer to reaching your goal or whether you have to adjust your sustainability plan. Here, we strike the right balance between societal impact, investments and financial gains.

1. Scanning sustainable profiles
We scan sustainability risks and impact hotspots of agri flows based on best available data.
Examples
2. On-the-ground interventions
We target improvement for high impact or risk areas by developing intervention strategies at agri production and landscape level.
Examples
- Project: Farmer Field Schools and Rainforest Alliance
3. Food system interventions
We facilitate sustainable change in agri commodity value chains by assessing policy impact and designing policies.
Examples
- Research: Living income in cocoa

1. Scanning sustainable profiles

Examples

2. On-the-ground interventions

Examples

3. Food system interventions

Examples