Today I would like to invite you on a journey. Our journey… A journey where I share both my fears and my hopes. I am writing this article as Osman Tekinarslan, the founder of ECAS International Certification, one of the most successful organizations in the field of Agricultural Certification in Turkey, and the former Turkey director of the Rainforest Alliance Sustainability Program, the world's largest Sustainable Agriculture Program. I have spent almost 30 years in the field of applications on how we can create a more sustainable agriculture and supply chain in the agricultural supply chain. I care and worry about what kind of world my children and grandchildren will leave. I shape both my personal and professional life with these concerns.
Have you ever had the chance to think? What stages does an agricultural product go through before it reaches your table and turns into an incredible flavor for you? This product could be a tomato, a chicken, a pepper, milk, meat, a banana or a hazelnut.
How many people work to offer you this product before it reaches our table?
When we look at the agricultural supply chain, many supply chain actors are involved in this process, starting from the farmer, to the merchant, packaging, processing, logistics and finally to the hypermarket chain where it reaches the consumer. Of course, when we add the seeds, agricultural plant protection products, fertilizers and other side actors that supply agricultural inputs to the supply chain, this list goes on.
In fact, the first question that should come to our minds is this: Will the agricultural products I mentioned above and the supply chain actors that bring these products to us still be able to exist in the future? Will we be able to easily supply and consume these products in the future?
The current world population is 7.7 billion, it is said that the world population will exceed 9.7 billion in 2030 and 11 billion in 2050.
Do we have the world agricultural production to feed this population?
The biggest risk to agricultural production in the world is the decrease in production and productivity, as well as the fact that farmers, workers and their families who earn their living from agriculture do not have the income to feed themselves and move away from agriculture.
This situation poses a major risk to the future availability of many agricultural products.
When we look at the risks affecting the sustainability of the agricultural supply chain in more detail, the following risks emerge.
Operational Risks
- Low productivity
- Climate Change
- Quality Problems
- Food Safety
- Safe Supply
- Pollution of soil and environment
- Traceability
Reputational Risks
- Decreasing farmer income
- Child Labor
- Rural Poverty
- Working conditions of agricultural workers
- Forced Labor
- Social gender equality
Legislations
Compliance with the laws and regulations in the country where we carry out agricultural production.
An agricultural production company or supply chain actor should be aware of the risks mentioned above and adapt its production and operations to cover these issues.
So why are these issues so important?
As it is known, in recent years, the increase in consumer awareness and the promises made by the big brands and companies, who are the final buyers of the export sector and agricultural products, to their final customers, the consumers, make it inevitable for the producers and suppliers, who are engaged in agricultural production, to produce according to these rules and standards. What is important here is not only how much and in what quality you produce, but also the necessity to prove to your buyer according to which agricultural standards you produce.
While these requirements, such as food safety, chemical residues, traceability, which started in the late 1990s, are still indispensable criteria today, buyers have now started to question what work their suppliers have done on sustainable agriculture.
What does Sustainable Agriculture and Sustainable Supply Chain mean?
Although sustainability is generally defined as the ability to ensure the continuity of human life while ensuring the continuity of production and diversity,
The fundamentals of sustainability in the agricultural field criteria ;
- Compliance with agricultural laws and regulations
- Self-sufficient and profitable farm or production management
- An Environmentally Sensitive Production Model (Climate Change, Biodiversity, Soil Protection, Water Management, Forest Protection)
- Development in Social Issues (Occupational Health and Safety, Child Labor, Equality between Men and Women, Forced Labor)
When you comply with all the above criteria, you are doing Sustainable Agriculture, which requires continuous development and change.
For sustainable supply, you need to eliminate the risks mentioned in price stability, safe supply, quality and production.
In the near future, all supply chain actors engaged in agricultural production will need different standards in the supply chain in addition to certificates that create added value to the product, such as Good Agricultural Practices, Globalgap, Organic agriculture, as well as in the issues related to Sustainability that I tried to explain above.
The most important activity you need to do while preparing your production for sustainability-related demands is to have a well-designed story that covers these criteria to tell your buyers.
So, how ready are you for this journey regarding sustainability?
In order to prevent our stakeholders from experiencing these difficulties that await us in the future, we are working on the needs of society by considering the environmental, social and economic dimensions of agriculture from different perspectives.
In line with this goal, our main goals include combating child labor in agriculture, improving the living and working conditions of workers in the agricultural supply chain, and increasing our agricultural exports by developing agricultural production, especially through sustainable agricultural policies.
Examples of studies in the field include;
- Production of different types of products to increase biodiversity in agricultural lands and to provide farmers with additional income.
- Training of producers on good agricultural techniques
- Studies on soil loss and soil improvement
- Training of experts working in the agricultural sector
- To guide and lead the studies carried out in the field on social issues
- To carry out activities to develop civil society and public cooperation on agricultural problems.
We are working for the reliability of the supply chain together with brands, governments, civil society organizations, and manufacturers, with the awareness of how important each actor is. It gives us hope that many companies, especially with this awareness, voluntarily focus their activities on sustainability studies and come together to produce collective solutions to the world's common problem.
Come share my concerns and let's find solutions together.
Support sustainable agriculture; ensure food security, and produce plant and animal products using techniques that protect the environment, public health, communities and animal welfare, and help bring the Turkish agricultural supply chain to the place it deserves.
Support this journey so that we can foresee the agricultural problems that many of us will face in the future, take precautions, and leave the flavors that our future generations enjoy consuming.
Stay healthy.
Osman Yalcin Tekinarslan