OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains

Enterprises involved in agricultural supply chains can create employment, raise labour standards and bring the technology to increase agricultural production or reduce pollution. But their activities can also contribute to food insecurity by leading to the eviction of local communities from their lands. Child labour and abuses of migrant workers and women are regularly reported. The production of some agricultural commodities leads to soil degradation, water resource depletion and deforestation.

OECD and FAO call for responsible investment in agriculture

16 February 2018, Paris - The OECD and the FAO launched a pilot project to kick-start the practical application of the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains with 30 leading enterprises.

Read the news release

About the OECD-FAO Guidance

The OECD-FAO guidance helps enterprises observe standards of responsible business conduct to ensure that their operations do not lead to adverse impacts and contribute to sustainable development. The FAO-OECD Guidance targets domestic and international, small, medium and large enterprises across the entire agricultural supply chain, from the farm to the consumer.

The OECD-FAO Guidance proposes:

A model enterprise policy outlining the company standards;

A framework for risk-based due diligence;

A description of the major risks faced by enterprises;

A guidance for engaging with indigenous peoples.

The guidance was developed with the support of a multi-stakeholder advisory group and benefited from feedback received during an online public consultation.

Additional Resources

International Standards

Lessons Learnt and Best Practices

Additional Tools and Standards

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