Opportunity and strong interest for sustainable agriculture in China
28th February 2019
Sustainable agriculture practice is nothing new to China. As the world’s largest agricultural economy feeding a population of 1.4 billion and producing 20% of the world’s food, China is putting sustainability principles into practice. Last month SAI Platform’s Director of Operations, Jane Duncan and Systems Director, Sven Sielhorst met with members and non-members to present and discuss the opportunities for the food industry in China to work together.
On 19-21 February, Beijing, SAI Platform presented workshops and a field visit for members and non-members to address the need for sustainable practices across China’s supply chain.Facilitated by Martin Ma, SAI Platform’s China Consultant, the event was well attended and early indications from the visit recognise a strong interest and need for SAI Platform support.
Day 2 welcomed 40 participants including members, their suppliers and audit companies to an introduction and training guide to the Farm Sustainability Assessment programme.
“We had great participation during the FSA workshop. Participants clearly see the potential for the FSA as an engagement and management tool that is able to bridge the gap between abstract sustainability goals and real action at farm level.” – added Sven Sielhorst.
The presentation from Giant Foods, an important supplier to SAI Platform members, further demonstrated how to use the FSA at ground level to achieve sustainability objectives.
Defining SAI Platform’s role in sustainable agriculture in China, Jane Duncan commented “As we look to expand our global reach, the purpose of this event was to explore the sustainability needs of our members and other stakeholders across the food and drink value chain in China.”
“A key focus of the discussions was based on how SAI Platform can better support our members by bringing them together to address the need for more sustainable practices in the supply chain and in particular to work collectively to find ways of engaging with smallholders”, Jane concluded.
Next steps: we are currently defining the next steps and actively encourage any of our members with an interest in China to get in touch with us.
If you need any further information, please contact Jane Duncan.
