Posts Tagged ‘Agriculture’

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How Can Sustainable Farming Help Combat Global Climate Change?

11/07/2012

The Rainforest Alliance’s climate team weighs in on the importance of sustainable agriculture as a tool in the fight against global climate change.

Periodically, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — a secretariat that supports all institutions involved in international climate change negotiations — solicits the perspectives of governments and civil society on key issues under negotiation. In 2012, the UNFCC made sustainable agriculture a focus of their policy-making decisions. Read the rest of this entry ?

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New Facebook App from Tetley’s Farmers First Hand

02/07/2012

Our friends over at Tetley have just launched the Tetley’s Tea Plucker Challenge on their Farmers First Hand Facebook page. The fun new Facebook application allows users to pluck a virtual tea field, whilst learning about sustainability, tea production and Tetley’s commitment to the Rainforest Alliance.

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Nescafé Plan – A Green Coffee-Farming Oasis

11/06/2012

Following on from Last week’s blog about the Nescafé Plan project, today’s blog  is about a family who bought a farm with not a single tree left on the land and is now a thriving certified coffee-farming oasis.

About 22 years ago, the Merino Family purchased land that the previous owners had long used to grow corn using slash-and-burn agriculture, meaning they burned everything after each harvest. According to Joaquin Merino, there was not a single tree on the land when they bought it.

That is hard to imagine, considering what the property looks like today. Finca Santa Eloisa, as it is called, is now a lush and beautiful coffee farm near the town of Zongolica, in Veracruz, Mexico. Its 64 acres (26 hectares) of coffee bushes and 25 acres (10 ha) of dense, protected forest are Rainforest Alliance Certified™ and verified by the Common Code for the Coffee Community, or 4C Association. It is also participating in the Nescafé Plan.

Finca Santa Eloísa, Zongolica, Veracruz, México Read the rest of this entry ?

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Nescafe Plan – Facing and Overcoming Challenges

06/06/2012

Last month saw the start of our new series looking at the Nescafe Plan project in Mexico. Today’s blog by Yessenia Soto, who visited the project to see it in action, takes a look at the barriers and challenges faced by the agronomists who will be training coffee farmers in sustainable practices.

 

Healthy shade-grown coffee looking more like a forest Read the rest of this entry ?

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How We Are…Transforming Business Practices

30/04/2012
In our fifth and final installment of our How We Are series, we take a look at how we are transforming business practices. Throughout April, the How We Are series focused on what we are doing in areas such as climate change, forestry, poverty alleviation and wildlife protection, and the impacts we are achieving along the way.
Business as usual is no longer an option. To succeed in the long-term, companies must safeguard their reputations, ensure the resources they need are responsibly sourced and available for the future, and keep their employees healthy, happy and productive.
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World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2012

27/04/2012

Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms have met rigorous social and environmental standards set by the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), a coalition of nonprofit conservation organisations, which address social, economic and environmental criteria. To mark World Day for Safety and Health at Work this weekend, we’re taking a look at the SAN standard for occupational health and safety.

All certified farms have an occupational health and safety programme to reduce or prevent the risk of accidents in the workplace. All workers receive training on how to do their work safely, especially regarding the application of agrochemicals. Read the rest of this entry ?

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How We Are…Alleviating Poverty

23/04/2012

In the fourth instalment of our How We Are series, we look at how we are working to alleviate poverty. The How We Are series is a chance for you to find out what we are doing in areas such as climate change, forestry, poverty alleviation and business transformation, and the impacts we are achieving along the way.

 

Around the world, 1.4 billion people — many of whom depend on agriculture for their survival — live on less than $1.25 a day. Left with few options, they resort to clearing land for subsistence agriculture, cutting down trees for firewood and selling illegal timber on the black market, often at prices far below the wood’s real value. The small income they derive from these destructive activities is rarely enough to lift them out of poverty and only serves to perpetuate the problem. Read the rest of this entry ?

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Growing from Strength to Strength

12/04/2012

This week sees the release of our annual growth figures for 2011, and what a growth we’ve seen in sustainable forestry, agriculture, tourism, climate change and environmental education.  The upswing reflects increased recognition of Rainforest Alliance certification that is driving new and ongoing collaborations with farmers, foresters and businesses worldwide. Read the rest of this entry ?

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Easter Special: From Bean to Bar

05/04/2012

With chocolate eggs being exchanged all over the UK this Sunday in celebration of Easter Day, it’s only right that today’s blog is a chocolaty offering…

A brief history
One of the oldest cultivated plants, cocoa originated in the Amazon basin in South America and travelled north as far as Mexico. Indigenous tribes believed cocoa was planted by gods. Cocoa beans were so highly valued that they were used as money until the 1800s.

Aztecs and Mayans first created xocolatla – a hot chocolate drink often mixed with vanilla or chilli peppers. Ecuador was once the primary producer of cocoa, but today about 80 percent is grown in the West African nations of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. Read the rest of this entry ?

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Spicing Up Sustainability

12/02/2012

What better time to announce our work in spices than at the 11th World Spice Congress in Pune, India that took place over the weekend. We are teaming up with the Sustainable Spices Initiative (SSI) to adapt the existing Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) standards to incorporate spice production. The SSI is the first major programme to build on the sustainable production of spices.

Founded by the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) –and four leading players in the Dutch spice market, this major spice programme will aim to implement SAN standards to the production to 34 different types of culinary spices. Read the rest of this entry ?

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