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RTRS Positive Impacts for the Soy Supply Chain
Day One.
RTRS Positive Impacts for the Soy Supply Chain
In the first morning of presentations and discussions, a major theme emerged of driving up demand for responsible, certified soy.
“If you want to create sustainability amongst producers, you have to send the right signals,” Juliana de Lavor Lopes, Sustainability, Communications and Compliance Director at Amaggi, told the conference.
Juliana presented research into the positive impact that RTRS certification has had on growers in Brazil, and she challenged the rest of the soy supply chain to deliver greater demand.
Through a survey of producers and major stakeholders RTRS had wanted to understand a) the positive impact certification was having and b) how RTRS could continue to develop
its standard to match the ISEAL Impacts Code as a precursor to applying for ISEAL membership.
In total 52 farmers were interviewed. Of those interviewed 98 percent felt that better farm management was one result from certification, alongside better alignment with market demand and with legal compliance.
One finding from the survey, or one message, was that farmers were not feeling the level of demand they’d expect, particularly for the effort that they’d invested in certification. The message from the marketplace is simply not strong enough.
The survey will help RTRS evolve their certification tool. One development to watch in the future will be the use of the RTRS tool to help guide a reduction in Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, in addition to its current role in achieving positive social and environmental outcomes.
