Dear reader, I’ve been writing ‘blog’ posts on and off, for about 15 years. There’s probably more than 2000 posts archived on this site, many of which will today be of no interest to anyone, and some that probably never were. I know some of the 2000 or so subscribers to the site might not have seen an email with a post. I let the blog drift for a while and the emailing of posts function stopped working. I’ve now ‘cleaned’ the list and this post may be sent out to the subscribers soon, all being well. So if you do get this via email, you did subscribe (or someone did it for you!) in the last 6 ..read more

For business, deciding whether to stay or leave a country, where the government has gone rogue, is not a simple as is being suggested, argue Dr Peter Stanbury and Tobias Webb In the past few weeks, members of the international community have been in stiff competition to impose the most stringent sanctions on the Putin regime in Russia, and the oligarchs seen to be connected with it. Likewise, companies in all sectors have been rushing to divest of holdings in Russia, or halt operations there. The question is whether these developments the a priori good things which they are presented as being ..read more

Sourcing companies providing cash incentives to farming families is a good start, yet there much more to do, write Dr Peter Stanbury and Tobias Webb In January 2022, Nestlé announced a new programme which aims “to improve the livelihoods of cocoa-farming families, while also advancing regenerative agriculture practices and gender equality.” The Income Accelerator Programme will pay cash incentives to farming families of up to CHF 500 (485 Euros) per year for actions which are designed to steadily build social and economic resilience over time. These include school enrolment for the children in ..read more

Last month we held a 40 person online workshop on the above topic, and here some notes from that, without attribution. Attendees were from brands, suppliers, key NGOs and farmers representatives. Our focus was on unpicking some of the barriers to making agriculture attractive for young people in rural communities in emerging nations. We didn’t find all the answers, but I hope the notes are somehow useful to read for some readers. In our first session, we asked: “How do we make agriculture aspirational for young people? What are the drivers beyond just money?” Here’s some of the thoughts the at ..read more

This is a summary of a recent panel discussion with experts from Neste, Covestro, Unilever and the European Commission talking about scalable, affordable solutions to the sustainable materials challenge. The panel demonstrate progress, debate some difficult questions and highlight what is possible during 2021, a vitally important year, of course, for the climate. Thanks to Neste for their financial support in making this happen.  Panel: Lars Börger, vice president brand owner management, Neste Lynette Chung, chief sustainability officer, Covestro Marika Lindstrom, vice president, procure ..read more

Innovation Forum recently published ground-breaking research exploring what is really needed to build genuinely sustainable smallholder supply chains. This identified a clear set of issues which need to be addressed, not just within farming communities, but also along the entire supply chain. However, the research also showed that as things stand at the moment, sustainability is not sustainable. A fundamental shift in approach is needed: Dr Peter Stanbury explains what this might look like. For the past eight months, Innovation Forum has been conducting an action research project to break down ..read more

Here’s an insightful blog post from the excellent Chain Reaction research team on what may lie ahead when it comes to policy measures around imported deforestation in European goods. Well worth a read, below, and also here. The Chain: European Lawmakers Propose Legislation to Reduce Deforestation in Supply Chains, Putting Them at Odds With Producer Countries The United Kingdom and Germany have recently announced new bills aimed at achieving deforestation-free commodity supply chains. The bills also focus on decarbonization of the transportation and energy sectors, and, if enacted, they would h ..read more

Here’s a 35 minute talk I gave to students of the Stockholm School of Economics in December 2021. I covered definitions, approaches, the organic vs conventional debate and the scale challenges of regenerative agriculture. Hope you find it useful. Join us to debate how regenerative agriculture is being adopted world-wide, and scaling up, at our Future of Food conferences, virtual and face to face, during 2022: https://www.innovationforum.co.uk/conferences/the-future-of-food (10-12 May, virtual) https://www.innovationforum.co.uk/conferences/the-future-of-food-us (14-15 June, Minneapolis, an in ..read more

In this post I consider what restoration means on the ground in the province of Riau, Sumatra. Shortly before the pandemic lockdown, I visited a plantation being managed by forest product firm APRIL, a major supplier to viscose company Asia Pacific Rayon. I found there are some surprising ways to protect and restore forests.  Edge of preserved forest reserve, Sumatra, Indonesia, September 2019 The term “restoration” is used ever more frequently in the deforestation debate – indeed, 2021 to 2030 is the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. According to IUCN, in 2020 “the world’s biggest fo ..read more

By Dr Peter Stanbury and Toby Webb Over recent years the “landscape approach” to addressing sustainability has become the buzz phrase. Yet, as our recent smallholder research has demonstrated, this ambition is far from being a practical reality on the ground. Our report found that activities to create sustainable smallholder supply chains remain siloed in commodity-specific, project-based approaches, that engagement with local governance and institutions remains patchy, and the sustainability issues in the supply chain between farm and port remain largely unexplored. We uncovered significant o ..read more