Launching Proforest Insights ahead of 25th Anniversary

As we approach 25 years of working on responsible production and sourcing of agricultural commodities, we’ve been reflecting on our experience and learnings that we plan to share in a series of Proforest Insights. Our first Insight by Ruth Nussbaum shares the approach we’ve developed to guide practical and impactful decision-making while working across many different situations, with different impacts and trade-offs:

Choosing the best actions in a complex world

We’re all faced with choices. In responsible sourcing and production of agricultural commodities, those choices impact people’s lives, the global climate and the future of nature, both positively and negatively. So how do we decide what action will best drive positive change and help achieve sustainable outcomes? As a mission-driven organisation we seek to advise companies, work with partners and collaborate with governments in ways that deliver impact on the ground. Over the 25 years since Proforest's inception, we’ve had to think about our approach across many different situations, with different impacts and trade-offs. This has made us reflect on how we choose the best approach, which we have distilled into three principles to guide our actions.

First, we have learnt from the last 25 years that cleaning up individual supply chains is not enough. We need sectoral transformation that creates a shift in ‘business as usual’ to drive real change for people and places where we work. So, our first principle is that action should contribute to sectoral transformation, supporting progress towards a ‘business-as-usual’ that is sustainable. This is the only long-term solution.

Large-scale sectoral change is complex and never perfect. Creating islands of excellence through individual projects or segregated supply chains plays an important role in showing what is possible and creating ambition, but equally important are the small incremental steps that demonstrate initial impact and also raise the level for everyone. Not only does this increase engagement by providing producers with first steps that feel achievable, but it also reduces the gap to reach best practice, making continuing progress achievable for more producers and thus creating change at scale.

However, in practice this often means compromising, supporting and recognising small steps, even while acknowledging that there is still a lot more to do... Continue reading the Insight here