Responsible Business for Sustainable Agriculture
Agriculture produces food, fuel and fibre. It is key to economic development and poverty alleviation at community, country
and higher levels. As populations continue to grow and people have become wealthier, the global agriculture system has changed significantly to meet increasing demands.
The agriculture sector comprises a diverse collection of actors, with farmers using a range of technologies and operating models, from the very basic to most highly sophisticated, linked by supply chains across the planet and connected to markets and consumers.
Agriculture is core to building a sustainable future – especially to ensure food and nutrition security and for secure livelihoods. Businesses in the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) are committed to a sustainable future and are aware of the complex challenges in different local, regional and global contexts to achieving sustainability in agriculture.
The UNGC is facilitating the creation of a set of Sustainable Agriculture Business Principles (SABPs) to provide guidance to all businesses in agriculture value chains, including production, processing, trading, manufacturing, distribution and retailing. The SABPs are being developed through a multi-stakeholder process led by UNGC signatory agri-businesses and including industry associations, civil society, UN agencies and other stakeholders.
UN Global Compact participants in the food and agriculture sector are invited to take an additional, voluntary step to embrace a set of Food and Agriculture Business Principles and report annually on their progress:
1. Aim for Food Security, Health and Nutrition
Businesses should support food and agriculture systems that optimize production and minimize waste, to provide nutrition and promote health for all people
