Food supply chains connect billions of consumers to producers around the world, creating livelihoods for people in farming, fishing, and many other stages of the supply chain. But food supply chains are also linked to major environmental problems and social issues. Improving the sustainability and responsibility of food supply chains would therefore go a long way towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Sustainable and responsible food supply chains
Food supply chains deliver a wide range of food products to billions of consumers worldwide and provide livelihoods to hundreds of millions of people. But they also account for a large share of global GHG emissions and other environmental impacts, and are linked to major social problems such as the use of child labour. Creating more sustainable and responsible food supply chains would therefore be a powerful lever for tackling these issues.
Key messages
There is a growing demand for quantification of GHG emissions and other environmental impacts in food supply chains. In parallel, it is becoming easier to provide such quantified assessments, as standards, databases and calculation tools have matured. The trend holds the promise of providing a better evidence base for improving environmental outcomes in food supply chains, but there is a risk of fragmentation leading to trade barriers, potentially excluding smaller producers.
The OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains provides a common framework to help businesses and investors identify and mitigate adverse impacts. At its core is the concept of risk-based due diligence, which provides a step-by-step approach to how companies can integrate due diligence into their operations and supply chains. By implementing these recommendations, companies can systematically identify, assess and mitigate potential negative impacts on environmental and social dimensions.
Context
Food supply chains are a major source of livelihoods
Worldwide, there are more than 600 million farms, and some 60 million people work in fisheries and aquaculture. However, food supply chains support many other livelihoods as well, from the production of inputs such as fertilisers or farm equipment to processing, trading, retail, and hospitality. As countries grow richer, fewer people work as primary producers, but employment in these other stages often increases.
Food supply chains have major environmental impacts
When all stages of the food supply chain are included, from the production of inputs such as fertilisers and animal feed to the final consumer, food supply chains account for an estimated one-third of global man-made GHG emissions. More than two-thirds of these emissions are due to primary agriculture and land use change (e.g. deforestation to clear land for farming). For many other environmental impacts, the contribution of food supply chains is even greater: for example, around 80% of all threatened terrestrial bird and mammal species are in danger because of agriculture-driven habitat loss, and most water use around the world is for agricultural production.
Due diligence, food supply chains, and major social challenges
More than 70% of all child labour worldwide happens in food supply chains, and some food supply chains have also been linked to e.g. human rights violations, worker health and safety risks, disputes over tenure rights and access to natural resources, and other risks. Improving the sustainability and responsibility of food supply chains can therefore be an important lever for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Due diligence is a process through which businesses can identify, prevent and account for how they address the actual and potential adverse impacts of their activities as an integral part of business decision-making and risk management. The OECD-FAO Guidance recommends that businesses implement due diligence to know and show that they are addressing the most significant environmental and social risks associated with their agricultural supply chains and that they are considering the whole range of their impact on the SDGs.
