Revamped practitioner's guide for sustainable agriculture sourcing launched

IMD and its partners introduced the new revamped version, which is a go-to, one-stop-shop, state-of-the-art global resource for companies committed to effective sustainable sourcing

IMD and its three partner organisations have launched a revamped, improved and interactive practitioner’s guide to sustainable sourcing of agricultural raw materials. Introduced first in 2013, the aim of practitioner's guide is to make available an open source innovation tool that captures, in a single document, real-life best practice and experiences from global corporations within a strategic, business logic-focused framework.
 
Climate change, increasing pressure on natural resources and continuing poverty and social inequity are affecting crops and water supply globally. These trends present increasingly significant risks – and at the same time also innovation opportunities - for companies in the food & beverage (F&B) value chain. F&B companies are among the world’s largest purchasers of agricultural raw materials. In response, many of these players have set ambitious sustainable sourcing goals and are working on implementation. Taking a step further, IMD, together with several other international organisations, co-launched the world's first practitioner's guide to sustainable sourcing of agricultural raw materials in 2013.

 
On June 4, 2015, IMD and its three partner organisations introduced the new revamped version, which is a go-to, one-stop-shop, state-of-the-art global resource for companies committed to effective sustainable sourcing.
 

Taking on board recent developments and new sustainable sourcing best practices, the new guide has been entirely revised and updated and now includes new practical tools, real-life examples and illustrations. This now on-line sustainable sourcing resource empowers companies and their managers by providing a user-friendly step-by-step roadmap to developing and rolling out sustainable agriculture sourcing programs effectively.
 
Hans Johr, corporate head of agriculture for Nestle SA, who made a keynote speech at the launch of the interactive guide at IMD today, commented, “The real innovation here is having the entire procurement community on the same page around sustainability for the first time. The guide is a benchmark helping companies to shape their practices in sustainable sourcing for the years to come, but also to embed sustainable sourcing in their brand promises.” 

 
Dr Aileen Ionescu-Somers, director of the CSL Learning Platform at IMD, said that the guide was also the baseline research for an IMD Master Class in Building Sustainable Value Chains; a dynamic innovation hub where participants learn while pooling and sharing their knowledge with other participants.
 
The guide’s revision is the fruit of a collaborative effort by a number of global organisations that are all active players in promoting sustainable sourcing of agricultural raw materials: the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, the CSL Learning Platform of IMD’s Global Center for Sustainability Leadership, the International Trade Centre, and the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH).