Global Agribusiness Alliance

To-date, the sustainable agriculture agenda has been heavily influenced by downstream consumer-facing brands. There has been a gap – a missed opportunity – for supply-side companies to identify shared risks and opportunities while demonstrating how the industry is making a positive contribution to building sustainable landscapes and livelihoods. 

Agriculture accounts for 70% of freshwater withdrawal and generates 12% of all manmade greenhouse gases – or up to 25%, if forestry and other land use are included. Agribusiness companies face a range of operational and reputational risks that can most effectively and efficiently be managed collectively: key findings from a report published in 2015 by MIT Sloan Management Review, BCG and the UN Global Compact, ‘Joining Forces’ stated that: 

• As sustainability issues become complex, critical and global in nature, companies are realizing that only collectively can they protect their interests and that of society. 
• Collaboration increases the influence and credibility of individual action.
• Through collaboration each company maintains its autonomy but gains new opportunities, share costs and risks and learn from each other’s skills, expertise. 
• Putting aside competing priorities to work together is increasingly recognized as a hallmark of corporate leadership. 

GAA enables members to avoid creating a fragmented and confused operating environment for supply- chain actors, through coalescing around a consistent approach to shared operational challenges. 

GAA develops a proactive and industry-shared position on issues of key societal concern ahead of others, thus setting out the role for agribusiness. 

It also provides a one-stop-shop for stakeholders and provide a credible contribution to emerging policies and guidance while it also builds a Community of Practice to scale best practices through peer-learning and knowledge-sharing.