Responsible Fruits
Concerned about business risk in avocado or pineapple supply chains?
The global production and trade of tropical fruits has grown dramatically while markets are demanding more action on environmental and social issues. Extreme weather, pests and diseases, economic downturns and other shocks have shown that business risks must be addressed to ensure continued success.
Companies are already taking steps to address sustainability risk in their operations.
However, value chains are vulnerable to risks and shocks beyond the control of any single actor. Thus, concerted actions can benefit all industry stakeholders and is why FAO is leading efforts to build responsible global value chains for more inclusive, resilient and sustainable production and trade of tropical fruits.
What is FAO doing?
This effort builds on more than a decade of experience in working with the private sector on tropical fruits. FAO hosts the secretariat and facilitates the World Banana Forum where industry players discuss challenges, seek technical support, and share good practices and innovations for sustainability in the banana sector. FAO led the Responsible Fruits Project (2020 to 2024, with support from the Federal Republic of Germany) working with over 250 stakeholders to make avocado and pineapple value chains more resilient and sustainable. FAO worked with over 30 leading enterprises and industry associations to apply the risk-based due diligence recommendations in the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains.
FAO's work:
helps companies to strengthen or establish risk-based due diligence systems to make their operations more sustainable and resilient to external shocks, such as extreme weather and pandemics; | |
provides a confidential environment for peer learning on pre-competitive issues; | |
identifies measures and good practices to overcome challenges limiting resilience and sustainability; | |
develops demand-driven guides and briefs, including good practices, to address technical challenges identified by industry actors and other stakeholders; and | |
| analyses the policy environment and incentives in order to identify opportunities to accelerate sustainable investment in supply chains. |
Learn more about the activities under "Focus areas" on the right of this page.
Latest publications
Document
Webinar #18: Responsible business conduct and risk management of pineapple value chains in Asia and the Pacific, in collaboration with the International Tropical Fruits Network (TFNet) - Summary report
28/06/2024
Webinar #18: Responsible business conduct and risk management of pineapple value chains in Asia and the Pacific, in collaboration with the International...
Webinar #1: Climate change mitigation, 2 June 2021
03/08/2021
This was the first in a series of technical webinars being organized by FAO’s Responsible Fruits project in response to the priorities and interests...
Building responsible global value chains for sustainable tropical fruits
09/03/2021
This three-year project is led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and titled “Building responsible global value chains...
Action Report April 2022: Responsible Tropical Fruits Project
10/10/2022
The FAO led project “Building responsible global value chains for the sustainable production and trade of tropical fruits” works with businesses, farmer...
Sustainable Tropical Fruits Series
Are you ready to lead? Using responsible business conduct to address risks in avocado businesses
27/09/2024
Responsible business conduct (RBC), implemented through due diligence, can help avocado producers and businesses improve the sustainability of their operations and gain or maintain access to markets. By adopting RBC and due diligence processes, businesses can mitigate social and environmental risks, avoid financial losses, and enhance long-term profitability.
Reducing food loss and valorizing fruits and residues to boost avocado industry sustainability and profitability
22/05/2024
Avocados, like other tropical fruits, are susceptible to food loss and waste due to their high moisture content and perishable nature. Factors including climate change, inadequate infrastructure and handling during harvesting, packaging and transportation increase the risk of food loss, impacting fruit supply and quality.
Projects
Focus areas
- Supporting due diligence in the avocado and pineapple sectors
- Responsible business conduct: minimizing social and environmental impacts in the tropical fruit sector
- How can the tropical fruit sector contribute to climate action?
- Building more resilient avocado and pineapple value chains
Related links
- World Banana Forum
- FAO Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) in Agriculture
- OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains
- Tropical fruits
- International Tropical Fruits Network (TFNet)
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