What Food Companies Can Do to Promote Sustainable Development

by | May 14, 2014

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The UN Global Compact has introduced a set of global voluntary business principles for the food and agriculture sector.

The Food and Agriculture Business Principles aim to help businesses realize the goal of sustainable development as described in the Rio+20 outcome document, The Future We Want.

The UN Global Compact says the six principles are designed to complement many existing initiatives that advance sustainability in food and agriculture, and serve as an umbrella over voluntary standards and technical compliance platforms. They provide agreed global language on what constitutes sustainability in food and agriculture on issues ranging from food security, health and nutrition, to human rights, good governance, and environmental stewardship, as well as ensuring economic viability across the entire value chain.

They are:

  1. Aim for food security, health and nutrition.
  2. Be environmentally responsible.
  3. Ensure economic viability and share value.
  4. Respect human rights, create decent work and help communities to thrive.
  5. Encourage good governance and accountability.
  6. Promote access and transfer of knowledge, skills and technology.

The FAB Principles provide a common basis for substantive sustainability reports to be developed and compared between organizations operating in the food, nutrition and agricultural sectors.

UN Global Compact corporate participants from the food and agriculture sector can use the Principles to disclose their sustainability policies and practices in their required annual Communication on Progress (COP). Reporting through the COP will demonstrate how an organization’s activities are aligned with the FAB Principles, as well as achievements that contribute to meeting the global challenges of food security and sustainable agriculture.

 

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