nutrition
Can economic growth continue indefinitely?
Dr Patrick Dixon, a business consultant and “futurist” believes that a lot of the world’s resource constraints can be solved by producing unlimited clean energy at relatively low cost with new technologies.
Posts Tagged ‘sustainability’
Creating Shared Value by Kofi Annan
Friday, December 11th, 2009 
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recently addressed an audience of around 400 people at the Nestlé Creating Shared Value (CSV) Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Mr Annan stressed the importance of CSV emphasising that it is a positive way of being responsible – whether by transferring technology or by making a contribution against climate change, or by efficiently using energy. He believed the CSV model could be used as a model by rich and poor countries and said it is possible to make profit with sustainability while giving something to society.
He suggested that the best way to make sustainability a shared value is to exploit resources rationally, believing that sound societies have to be based on peace, security, economical balance, respect for human rights and the rule of law – which should not be left to governments alone.
Mr Annan also sent a message to young people motivating them to play a constructive role in their communities, to become good global citizens, make good choices and have an active voice in the world.
Nespresso shares new insights on coffee farm economics
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Specialists from academia, industry, farming, NGOs, public and agri-finance gathered together at the Third Nestlé Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Coffee Forum to discuss the theme Financing the Future and Creating Real Farmer Income™. Expert debate focused on the Nespresso concept of Real Farmer Income™ to develop a clear roadmap to build and finance a truly sustainable future for the highest quality coffee sector.
Launched in collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance in 2003, the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program aims to safeguard the long-term supply of highest quality coffee, while at the same time improve the quality of life of farmers and their communities. Nespresso has committed to a target to source 80% of its coffee through the AAA Program, from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms, by 2013 as a part of Ecolaboration™ the Nespresso platform for sustainable innovation.
Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, one of the originators of the shared value concept and member of the Nestlé Creating Shared Value Advisory Board, said: “Nespresso’s innovative program, which helps farmers achieve higher prices, better yields, and greater environmental performance and sustainability, is not driven by charity but by creating value. Nespresso will benefit strategically from the quality improvements that farmers achieve and coffee supplies that will be far more sustainable over time. It is this alignment between corporations and social challenges, not a mindset of separation and tradeoffs, which is the key to both economic and social progress.”
Participants also reviewed a ground-breaking study commissioned by Nespresso and undertaken by INCAE, the leading South American business school. Professor Lawrence Pratt from INCAE stated that is a real opportunity for Nespresso to continue to positively contribute to improving farming and management practices to deliver long term economic creation as well as environmental and social benefits.
Please click here for more information on Nespresso Ecolaboration™, including Real Farmer Income™.
Sustainable Feeding Programs
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009The webcast on the Emerging Global Food Crisis got me thinking about the sustainability of feeding programs alongside a food crisis. At the moment, Nestlé Philippines has a feeding program in place and its sustainability is dependent on the parent volunteers through the improvement of their livelihoods, which will eventually enable them to run the feeding program on their own.
In essence, however, the sustainability of a feeding program is also largely dependent on the availability of food. The presence of a school garden can be one solution to this availability problem. Just to illustrate, in Rwanda, the planted school gardens benefited the school and the community in several ways. They increased the students’ knowledge on food security and nutrition. The students acquired gardening skills, and most importantly the school garden provided constant food supply for the ongoing feeding programs in place. Some schools in the area were even provided cow sheds and hen houses, as well as Friesian cows to care for. These cows were used for the children’s milk consumption while cow dung was used for soil fertility. The feeding program enabled the schools to save money in the long run as their food supply came from their own garden. Any surplus in produce was sold to the community to garner profit, thus benefiting the school even more in the process.
To know more about the Rwandan School Gardens click on this link:
School Garden in Rwanda
Often times, land space and availability are issues to consider when it comes to producing school gardens. Click on the link to see how an NGO called Send a Cow in Uganda tackled that problem by creating “bag gardens.”
Send a Cow, Uganda
Gardening and Water Conservation with Rain Reserve
Thursday, October 8th, 2009Each year tens of thousands of gallons of rainwater runs off your roof, not only does that water then spread waste from cities and towns into rivers and streams, it can also be diverted, collected, and put to good use.
For people interested in the intersection between sustainability and agriculture, the Rain Reserve easily diverts water through gutters and a purification system into a barrel. The fresh, clean rainwater is a great reminder of how small changes can make a big difference when it comes to scare and shared resources like a community water supply.
Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future
Thursday, October 8th, 2009Watch this video to learn more about Sierra Orchards in Winters, California–one of the early adopters of water conservation and efficiency practices featured in the report Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future. This is the first in a series of California success stories in agricultural water use to be released March 2010.
India’s water use ‘unsustainable’
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009The BBC’s Environment correspondent, Richard Black, has a really fascinating post on water use in India. According to Black, the U.S.’s NASA Grace Mission has discovered that the country’s water-table is falling by about 4cm (1.6 inches) per year in its north-west region, which includes Delhi.
The finding, published in the journal Nature, indicates that “rainfall has not changed, and water use is too high, mainly for farming.” According to the BBC, the finding came out just two days after the Indian government issued a warning about the potential of a water crisis.
According to Sukhminder Singh, a farmer from Bhoondri in the State of Punjab: “Now our children come home and explain to us how to make proper use of water, for example while brushing teeth one should use a cup of water rather than letting water taps flow freely. This will lead to proper water management in the village community.”
For our efforts, we were awarded the Punjab Government’s Award for Environmental Excellence in 2005.
Dairy farming and milk processing are also important areas where Nestlé is making a positive impact in India. Nestlé works with farmers in the Moga and Samlakha Milksheds through our Farmer Water Management Awareness Program to create awareness about the need to conserve water and optimize use in agriculture. By providing technical support on new irrigation techniques in agriculture, rain water harvesting, ground water recharge, optimum and use of water for irrigation, and water management on dairy farms, Nestlé has helped to keep dairy waste water management at the farmer level as well as set up biogas and Vermi-compost production units.
The proper management of water is something that Nestlé takes very seriously as our business depends on it. Please see our Water Management Report for more information about how Nestlé creates shared value in the communities where we operate.
Water crisis to hit Asian food
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009Check out this story about how Asian countries are facing chronic food shortages and social unrest if they do not spend billions of dollars to improve antiquated crop water management to cope with rapid population increases. Read the joint report by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
