HOW IS RAINFOREST ALLIANCE WORKING WITH THE BANANA SECTOR TO IMPLEMENT AND IMPROVE OUR NEW CERTIFICATION PROGRAM?
The Rainforest Alliance is constantly making efforts to deliver more value to the thousands of growers and companies around the world who use certification to drive more sustainable agriculture and more equitable supply chains. For this reason, the Rainforest Alliance 2020 Certification Program has many new and innovative features, from a shared responsibility approach to a continuous improvement model. It took years of hard work and collaboration to get to this point. Prior to publishing the 2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard in June, two separate rounds of online public consultations were held with more than 1,000 people in 50 countries, incorporating contributions from the field to the presentation room.
As a new program is launched, dialogue with partners is maintained to make the standard even more practical and flexible in different contexts, to ensure a smooth implementation and transition from previous standards. The new program aims to strengthen the quality of implementation and create means for buyers to provide additional support to producers in implementing the requirements of the standards. In addition, in general the response to the pilots has been positive.
BANANA SECTOR
PILOT AND TRAINING PROGRAMS
Trainings for current certificate holders and potential new members in Latin America will start in January 2021.
MEASURES TAKEN BY RAINFOREST ALLIANCE BASED ON FEEDBACK.
The improvements will be incorporated into the guidance documents and version 1.1 of the new standard (to be published in early 2021). The other actions are being implemented or have led to some invitations for the banana sector to provide more input.
The Rainforest Alliance has also adapted schedules to support implementation for banana farms and companies,Next steps:
- In the coming weeks and months, the Rainforest Alliance invites banana producers and companies to:Participate in a workshop in the first quarter of 2021 to discuss requests for exceptional use of pesticides and implementation challenges before the publication of our “exceptional use” policy
- Provide feedback on the new Exhibit 13 (to be published in January 2021) that will explain how to contribute to off-farm conservation and restoration areas – to meet the 10% natural vegetation cover requirement
- Provide information and feedback to review drone requirements around aerial pesticide application to ensure safe fumigation
- Participate in our pilot projects on the shared responsibility approach from the first quarter of 2021
- Participate in training on the new standard from January 2021
- By joining in an open discussion, we can have a positive impact on the sustainability of banana farms and the livelihoods of banana growers around the world.
Read more how the Rainforest Alliance invites the banana sector to join an ambitious new program.
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