Free webinar: Is improving land rights the key to smallholder development? And, if so, how can companies help?

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Secure land rights are often essential for smallholders to attain finance and agricultural extension. That support is critical for making investments that raise farm productivity, improve post-harvest practices, smooth household cash flow, and aid better access to markets and management of risk. In theory, farmers that own their land are also incentivized to improve their…

Two short videos on the history of CSR and sustainability in business, 1720 to date

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Here’s two short videos I taped a couple of years ago on the history of CSR and sustainable business. Each is about five minutes and they were the most popular ones on the online course I used to run with Mallen Baker (at least, out of the videos I taped) I have given this as a…

Webinar on climate smart agriculture with Kellogg, Bunge & Environmental Defense Fund

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Innovation Forum is holding a webinar on climate smart agriculture with Kellogg, Bunge & Environmental Defense Fund that I would like to invite you to join. The webinar is taking place Tuesday September 13th. We will address the future of food production in our changing climate, discussing the role of business, technology and climate smart…

15 key issues for business tackling deforestation

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Does the internet REALLY need another listicle, I hear you ask? Probably not. But readers do click on stuff like this, hence the headline. I think it’s because you know it’s not going to be very long (or deep) and you might have time to get to the end. My guesswork aside, this listicle (it’s better…

Genetic-editing technique could be a real agri-tech breakthrough

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Hopes are high for CRISPR, an emerging genetic technology that has been called “ground-breaking”, “jaw-dropping” and a potential boon for sustainable agriculture. CRISPRs – clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats – are DNA sequences that can be used like scalpels to edit genomes, the genetic material of living things. Using the technique, precise cuts can…

How Thai Union, Intel and Nestle manage human rights risk (free, in-depth insight)

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In case you missed our webinar on human rights risk management with Thai Union, Nestle and Intel that took place last Friday, you can find the webinar recording here to listen to at your leisure: http://bit.ly/2bIWuXy Also, we are running two relevant conferences on human rights and business in London and Washington DC that may be of…

Webinar on Friday August 19th, on human rights, with Intel, Nestle, and Thai Union

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Dearest reader, I hope you are rather well, Innovation Forum is holding a complimentary webinar on human rights risk management approaches with Intel, Nestle and Thai Union this Friday. We’d like to invite you to join in. The webinar is taking place this Friday 19th August. The discussion will explore collaboration and partnership approaches being…

Six ways companies can support human rights and environmental campaigners

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I wrote in my recent post: Should business defend environmental and human rights campaigners? that I would pen a follow up on this difficult question. In that post I tried to make the case for deciding your business should defend campaigners where your values align with theirs. In this one I want to talk about what that looks…

How Diageo and Golden Agri Resources engage smallholder farmers

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Here below are four recent podcasts we taped at events we at Innovation Forum held earlier this year. The focus is all about smallholder farmers and how companies can better engage them, tackle capacity challenges, improve yields and overcome the limits to certification. (Many more podcasts can be found here) And this upcoming conference should…

Business benefits from Thai labour progress

Migrant workers from Myanmar sort fish after unloading the catch from a boat at the port of Mahachai, near Bangkok September 24, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Myanmar and other neighbouring countries escape poverty to search for prosperity in Thailand but human rights groups are expressing concerns that the rights of many of those workers are being violated. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun (THAILAND - Tags: SOCIETY IMMIGRATION BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT) - RTR2RS8W

The US government has recognised improvements in tackling trafficking in Thailand’s seafood sector, but the endemic labour abuses will be tough to eradicate From Innovation Forum’s weekly business newsletter. Sign up free at: http://innovation-forum.co.uk In issuing its updated Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, the US Department of State upgraded the country from a “tier 3” to “tier 2”…

Tech, innovation and sustainability: How can big food and retailers hit their targets?

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Big food and FMCG brands and retailers have set important and game-changing targets in sustainable agriculture. Achieving these are amongst the biggest challenges that companies face in the next decade. Much has been done in recent years, but we’re a long way from overall success. So how will companies get there ‘on time’? Which techniques,…

Supply chain risk, how to get useful insight for your business

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At Innovation Forum we’re now helping companies understand risk in a cost effective way, that’s not just through edgy, focused conferences which get to the heart of the issues. Several companies has asked us to provide them with a quarterly, cost effective risk briefing service via PDF report, and face to face meetings. These focus…

Palm oil debate, lawsuits, agri-tech & sustainability and Scott’s soapbox

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Here’s the latest of the podcast series Scott Poynton, founder of TFT (The Forest Trust) and I are doing this year. In this edition we talked about the demise of the Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge, the IOI vs. RSPO lawsuit closure, Resolute vs. Greenpeace (briefly), why talking to critics is really the best way. We…

Should business defend environmental and human rights campaigners?

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There are a few questions in the world of responsible business which always get attention. These are the thorny, difficult, riddled-with-potential-conflict-of-interest-and-controversy questions. One of them is: “How should companies responsibly engage and persuade Governments to think longer term in a sustainable way?” Another is this, the title of this post: “Should business defend environmental and human…