Walmart sows seeds for sustainable farming revolution

Walmart yesterday hailed a "new era" in its approach to the agricultural sector, launching a major new initiative designed to promote sustainable farming techniques amongst its global network of small and medium-sized suppliers.

The supermarket giant said it would introduce a raft of new schemes over the next few years that would encourage farmers to share environmentally friendly best practices and embrace more efficient use of water, fertilizer and pesticides.

It also outlined a major new commitment that will see the company significantly shorten its supply chains for many products by promoting the sourcing of locally produced food.

"Through sustainable agriculture, Walmart is uniquely positioned to make a positive difference in food production – for farmers, communities and customers, " said Mike Duke, Walmart president and chief executive, on a teleconference to announce the new initiative. "Our efforts will help increase farmer incomes, lead to more efficient use of pesticides, fertilizer and water, and provide fresher produce for our customers."

The new strategy is backed by a series of targets for 2015, including a commitment to selling $1bn-worth of food sourced from one million small and medium farmers, provide training to one million farmers and farm workers to help them adopt sustainable farming practices, and increase the income of the small and medium farmers it sources from by 10 to 15 per cent.

The company said that it will also ask farmers to report on how much water, energy, fertilizer and pesticide they use per unit of food produced, as part of the effort to promote sustainable practices.

In addition, the firm said it will strengthen its procurement policy for palm oil and beef products that may contribute to deforestation, pledging to purchase sustainably sourced palm oil for all Walmart private brand products globally by the end of 2015 and expand the already existing practice of Walmart Brazil of only sourcing beef that does not contribute to the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest to all Walmart companies worldwide by the same date.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Chris Brown, head of ethical and sustainable sourcing at Walmart's UK subsidiary Asda, said that the strategy represented a new era for the company that will result in major changes to its supply chain over the next five years.

"Supply chain models will change in the long term," he said. "What is fit for purpose now will not be fit for purpose going forward."

He argued that the new strategy represented a major shift in the way supermarkets address sustainability, moving from an approach where they focus on tackling emissions by reducing energy use to a more fundamental assessment of their entire supply chain.

He added that the primary goal would be to work with suppliers to propagate best practices in a way that allows the company to cut carbon emissions from its supply chain by 20 million tones over the next five years.

Brown said that in addition to bolstering the company's environmental credentials, the new approach to sustainable sourcing would also help the firm better protect itself against climate change "hazards" that are expected to impact its supply chain over the coming decades.