Collaboration between Sustainable Rice Platform and GLOBALG.A.P.
In March 2017, the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) and GLOBALG.A.P. exchanged memberships and committed to work together towards good agricultural practices in rice production.
In October 2015, the SRP and its members launched the world’s first sustainability standard for rice production. The SRP Standard for Sustainable Rice Cultivation has been field-tested over the last year in a number of rice-growing countries and is supported by a set of performance indictors to monitor impact. The Standard is now being upscaled to support a growing interest in sustainable rice supply chains in both the public and private sectors.
GLOBALG.A.P. offers rice certification following good agricultural practices, and producers in several countries are already certified. The GLOBALG.A.P. certification system provides an integrated holistic approach to good agricultural practices and the scope covers more than 500 products. More than 70 percent of the certified producers are organized in producer groups or cooperatives.
GLOBALG.A.P. and PRIME Agri Ltd are launching the GLOBALG.A.P. Academy in Myanmar with a focus on Group Certification for smallholder farmers. The core curriculum in Myanmar is based on GLOBALG.A.P.’s Integrated Farm Assurance Standard for Fruits & Vegetables (Version 5), combined with a supplementary module of the SRP Standard and its protocols. This project in Myanmar will facilitate compliance with and certification of both standards without duplication in the implementation or verification processes.
“By the end of May 2017, we expect to have achieved the first Group Certification of nearly 100 smallholders in Myanmar’s southern Shan State – a region with the potential to be the temperate fruit and vegetable capital of the ASEAN region with amounts to rival California’s crop production valued at over USD 35 bn per year. This first batch of smallholder farmers paves the way for other smallholder groups that will be developed through the Myanmar GLOBALG.A.P. Academy. Altogether, these smallholders will form a food safety and sustainability compliant supply chain. Compliance with GLOBALG.A.P. Standards will accelerate access to high-value premium domestic and export markets as well as attract investments in agribusiness infrastructure and the downstream food industry,” remarked Kenneth Shein, co-founder and Group CEO of PRIME Agri.
GLOBALG.A.P. is also participating in a Sustainable Rice Platform Working Group, which is currently shaping a reliable and efficient assurance framework for the SRP Standard.
“This cooperation will make an important contribution to harmonize and combine the efforts of SRP and GLOBALG.A.P. members to help rice farmers achieve more sustainable production practices, and will also help link them to local and international markets,” explained Kristian Moeller, CEO of GLOBALG.A.P.
About the Sustainable Rice Platform
The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) is a global multi-stakeholder alliance established in December 2011, co-convened by UN Environment and the International Rice Research Institute. Its 70 institutional members include governments, supply chain members and input providers, international agencies, research institutions and civil society organizations. SRP promotes the establishment of resource-efficient, climate-smart sustainable supply chains in the global rice sector and aims to reach one million smallholders by 2021.
About GLOBALG.A.P.
GLOBALG.A.P. is a leading global certification program whose mission is to bring farmers and retailers together to produce and market safe food to protect scarce resources and to build a sustainable future.
Contact:
Sustainable Rice Platform:
Lea Las Piñas (Communications):
UN Environment Asia Pacific Office
United Nations Building, 2F Rajdamnoen Nok Ave
Bangkok 10200
Thailand
T: +66 2 288 1801
Email: Lea.Laspinas@unep.org
Web: www.sustainablerice.org
GLOBALG.A.P. c/o FoodPLUS GmbH
Claudia Meifert
Public Relations
T: +49 (0) 221-57993-997
Email: meifert@globalgap.org
Web: www.globalgap.org
