Building responsible global value chains for tropical fruits| Markets and Trade | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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

Booklet

Are you ready to lead? Using responsible business conduct to address risks in pineapple businesses

27/09/2024

Responsible business conduct (RBC), implemented through due diligence, can help pineapple producers and businesses improve the sustainability of their...

Booklet

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...

Booklet

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...

Book (stand-alone)

Adapting to climate change in the tropical fruit industry: a technical guide for pineapple producers and exporters

12/03/2024

Climate change is impacting global food production systems, making the challenge of feeding the world’s growing population more difficult than ever...

Book (stand-alone)

Adapting to climate change in the tropical fruit industry: a technical guide for avocado producers and exporters

12/04/2024

Climate change is impacting global food production systems, making the challenge of feeding the world’s growing population more difficult than ever...