Tracking Behind the Brand’s sustainability commitments through the supply chain with the \u2018agribusiness scorecard\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n This report presents the new \u201cagribusiness scorecard,\u201d which measures the strength of seven agribusinesses\u2019 sustainability and responsible sourcing policies.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s food system is not working for everyone. Millions of women and small-scale food producers lack secure rights to the land they depend on, leaving them vulnerable to deforestation and land grabs by governments and private sector investors for expanding agricultural commodity production. Greenhouse gas emissions and climate change further impact small-scale food producers, with droughts, flooding, and volatile weather patterns making it even harder for them to grow the food we all rely on. Women producers often lack access to formal jobs, markets, land, and credit. Such market and policy failures often contribute to gender inequity.<\/p>\n Agribusiness<\/b>\u00a0refers to the\u00a0enterprises<\/a>, the\u00a0industry<\/a>, and the field of study of value chains<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0agriculture<\/a> and in the\u00a0bio-economy<\/a>, in which case it is also called\u00a0bio-business <\/b>or\u00a0bio-enterprise<\/b>. The primary goal of agribusiness is to\u00a0maximize profit<\/a>\u00a0while\u00a0sustainably<\/a>\u00a0satisfying the needs of consumers for products related to\u00a0natural resources<\/a>\u00a0such as\u00a0biotechnology<\/a>,\u00a0farms<\/a>,\u00a0food<\/a>,\u00a0forestry<\/a>,\u00a0fisheries<\/a>,\u00a0fuel<\/a>, and\u00a0fiber<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 usually with the exclusion of\u00a0non-renewable resources<\/a>\u00a0such as\u00a0mining<\/a>.<\/p>\n Agribusinesses are powerful actors within the global food system; they are also key links between consumer-facing food and beverage giants such as The Coca-Cola Company, Nestl\u00e9, PepsiCo, and Unilever, and the people who produce the world\u2019s food. Agribusinesses\u2019 market position and concentration give them significant power over how commodities are bought and produced, and thus enormous influence over the lives of millions of small-scale food producers. And they are massive. Oxfam assessed the seven agribusinesses with the new agribusiness scorecard\u2014Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Barry Callebaut, Bunge, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus Company, Olam International, and Wilmar International\u2014together generate over $290bn in revenue each year. 3 Olam alone has 4.7 million farmers in its supply chain and operates in more than 65 countries.<\/p>\n Despite their power, agribusinesses have historically operated under the radar of public scrutiny, with the exception of their palm oil practices, primarily in Indonesia. 5 Many lack the sustainability and responsible sourcing commitments necessary to effectively manage social and human rights risks and impacts. The companies they sell their commodities to, however, place a high value on what consumers think about their brands. And consumers increasingly want to know whether their favorite snacks and beverages are free of deforestation and exploitive sourcing practices.<\/p>\n In 2013, bolstered by hundreds of thousands of actions by concerned consumers and with the support of investors representing $1.4 trillion in assets under management, Oxfam began challenging 10 influential food and beverage giants (the \u201cBig 10\u201d) to improve their social and environmental performance through its Behind the Brands campaign. Many of the Big 10 led their industry by adopting policies on women, land, and climate over the course of the campaign. Mars, Mondelez, and Nestl\u00e9 are committed to tackling gender inequality. The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and others declared zero tolerance for land grabs. General Mills and the Kellogg Company pledged to fight climate change, setting science-based targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and eliminating deforestation from their supply chains.<\/p>\n Because the food and beverage giants sit toward the end of massive supply chains, to implement their commitments, meet consumer demand for sustainable and ethical sourcing, and ultimately do right by farmers and communities, these companies must ensure that their suppliers\u2014global agribusinesses included\u2014change their practices. Independently, agribusinesses have an internationally recognized responsibility to respect human rights, and an opportunity to conduct business in ways that help create a more sustainable food system by supporting women and small-scale producers and addressing land conversion, deforestation, and associated emissions.<\/p>\n Initial steps to practice change at scale include stronger social and environmental sustainability policies and rigorous plans to implement them. This report thus focuses on the following questions: Do agribusinesses\u2019 sustainability policies and implementation plans meet standards set by leading Big 10 companies and for best practice? Are agribusinesses prepared to manage their operations in a way that brings about improved impacts for women, small-scale food producers, and on land and climate? The verdict: There is major room for improvement. The figure below shows the results from the new agribusiness scorecard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"