Agricultural commodities

With 10 years of experience in over 120 organisations and more than 40 countries, Proforest is an international leader in the development and implementation of policies for sustainable natural resource management, including a range of agricultural commodities. As demand for sustainably sourced commodities increases, producers, processors, purchasers and investors in natural resources will need to demonstrate their commitment to environmental and social responsibility, a complex task in today’s challenging commercial setting.

Proforest is experienced in the management of oil palm, soy, sugarcane, rubber, beef, cotton and jatropha at different scales – including smallholders, communities, forest-dependent people and multinational businesses – working at every stage of the supply chain to assist in the implementation of sustainable production and processing, responsible purchasing and investment. We also specialise in providing support for the development of international sustainability initiatives, such as the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Services related to agricultural commodities are delivered through various Proforest programmes:

• Our consultancy services for producers, purchasing and investment provide support to organisations as diverse as Marks & Spencer, OLAM International, the UK Government’s department for environment, Shell, and HSBC – advising, training, and auditing their performance to help achieve compliance with international standards.
  

• Our sustainability initiatives support programme offers technical assistance to a wide range of organisations, including RSPO, the Roundtable for Responsible Soy (RTRS), Bonsucro (Better Sugarcane Initiative) and Better Cotton Initiative and Cotton made in Africa, supporting them to develop standards and safeguards that promote better management of natural resources, and scale up overall impact. We facilitate dialogue, information sharing and multi-stakeholder agreements; provide training to approved auditors; and play a leading role in helping emerging initiatives to develop standards and systems.

• Our policy, science and research programme works with organisations such as the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and The Prince’s Rainforest Project bringing practical experience and advice to develop effective, science-based policy for sustainable resource use.

• Our training and capacity building programme works with a number of partners, building capacity for effective implementation. Examples include training courses for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on social and environmental standards for agriculture, courses on the identification of High Conservation Value areas for agricultural expansion in Brazil, and a capacity-building programme for sustainable palm oil production in West and Central Africa.