The climate change crisis and now the pandemic that we are facing triggered my thoughts on business models to support sustainable development.
Business models
The Corporate Social Responsibility concept came about in the ‘50s as a business vision based on respect, ethical values, care for the environment, and sustainability. CSR was followed by the sustainable business model concept and, more recently, the concept of regenerative businesses is taking hold.
This latest business model aims to guarantee resource availability in the future, placing nature and the individual at the center of trade practices. With this model, the vision of businesses should be to help transform the supply chain of commodities and food to make them regenerative.
To regenerate
To regenerate means to restore, to renew and to replenish, in addition to conserve. In agriculture, specifically, it means to promote soil regeneration, water conservation, improved productivity, and biological diversity, as well as to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere to retain them in the soil. All of this is done to obtain better economic and environmental outcomes which contribute to prosperity and equity for workers, clients, stakeholders, and communities.
Regenerative agriculture involves comprehensive management that also helps to improve the quality of the food that we eat.
Every company and person can be “regenerative”, for example, by using the 4Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle and recover.
At AgroAmerica we have made efforts to adopt each one of the business models as they have been developed, adapting to change and market. For example, in our banana operations in Guatemala and Ecuador, we are completing a neutral carbon certification. I am proud to share that in a study done on the carbon footprint generated by banana production in the region, it was confirmed that independent Guatemalan banana growers produce the lowest carbon impact per production unit.
AgroAmerica has also made progress in soil conservation with practices like reusing 80% of the banana plant as organic matter contribution to soil and for water absorption. The plantations have vegetable cover to prevent water accumulation in the soil, and to minimize erosion.
Other regenerative techniques
Regenerative agriculture techniques also include reforestation. Needless to say, more forests and stored carbon from the soil give us cleaner air to breath and to mitigate greenhouse effects, and to promote biodiversity.
The best way in which companies can support reforestation is through long term partnerships and programs. These practices have given very good results in AgroAmerica. The company takes part in the LandScale Initiative as a key player in landscape conservation in the Southwestern region of Guatemala, in partnership with Rainforest Alliance and Solidaridad Network. It also supports forest and biodiversity conservation efforts in over 19,000 hectares in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, in a project in partnership with Solidaridad and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In addition, it has a mangrove conservation program and basin reforestation programs in place in partnership with government agencies and local communities. In its operations it keeps a 975.34-hectare forest reserve, and the most recent project is one of beehive conservation and pollination in the ingredients’ plant in Guatemala (the only project of this type in the country).
I encourage all companies and persons to become “regenerative” and I invite you to become acquainted with AgroAmerica’s sustainability efforts.