As indicated by the report, in South American, Southeast Asian and African countries with tropical forests, the issue of deforestation caused by agricultural production has intensified climate change that may compromise human being’s food security in the long term. Since a single company can not solve this systemic problem, cooperation must be carried out among enterprises and between enterprises and governments so as to boost the sustainability of commodity supply and the resilience of climate.
COFCO International’s “Brazil soy bean traceability project” is a case about the in-depth cooperation between COFCO International and international financial companies. Remote sensing satellite imagery analysis technology provided by Brazilian company Agrosatélite is utilized to screen and monitor soy bean suppliers and farms in Brazil’s major soy bean region Matopiba to ensure compliance of their mode of production with environmental and social standards and establish traceable and sustainable soy bean supply chain without deforestation or vegetation conversion.
With an area of 73 million hectares covering four states of Brazil, 90% of Matopiba is located in the Cerrado savanna. By the end of 2021, COFCO International had screened all direct suppliers of this region and achieved full traceability of soy directly sourced from this region. The company has also conducted skill training sessions for local farmers to enhance their capacity for agricultural sustainability. International financial companies have provided expertise, strengthened executive capabilities, and helped develop quality control tools.
The report concludes that other commodity traders and producers can refer to COFCO International’s path of making commitments, implementing sustainability strategy and clarifying each party’s responsibility while working with special institutions such as international financial companies so as to boost the sustainability performance.
