A new partnership is working together to mange natural resources for the agriculture industry.  Cargill and World Resources Institute (WRI) are bringing WRI’s cutting-edge tools to help manage deforestation and water risk.  Cargill will be able to utilized WRI’s world class maps, analytical tools and expertise and WRI will have access to Cargill’s global insights and experience working in the food industry in 70 countries around the world.

“This partnership exemplifies our vision for a more sustainable and food-secure future,” said Al Johnson, Cargill Vice President of Environment, Health and Safety. “Working in collaboration with NGOs and others on land use and water resources is part of our commitment to be a trusted sustainability partner to our customers and communities. It underscores our ongoing efforts to finding practical solutions to environmental and social challenges.”

The first efforts will be to protect forests surrounding the soy industry in Paraguay and the palm oil industry in Indonesia.  Global Forest Watch will prioritize action areas and offer transparency to the project.

In Paraguay, Cargill works with over 3,000 farmers in the Atlantic Forest to source soy, and has been building a sustainable soy program there since 2009. WRI’s analysis will assess deforestation risks in Paraguay and across Latin America to help ensure soy is sourced more responsibly.

Cargill has also committed to creating a 100 percent transparent, traceable and sustainable palm supply chain by 2020. Global Forest Watch will be a critical tool for implementing supply chain policies through its tools and methods to assess deforestation risk by looking at individual palm oil mills and concessions. 

Water risk will also be an important priority for the team.  Their collaboration will help update the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, which offers a high-resolution, customizable global maps of water risk.  WRI and Cargill will also work together to develop a method for evaluating water quality impacts of freshwater system.  The system will be piloted in the U.S. and will pinpoint opportunities for improvement in areas where Cargill operates.  Cargill will also join the Skoll Global Threats Fund to support WRI’s Water Program to develop the world’s first Global Water-Food Security Analyzer.

“It is through high-impact partnerships like this that WRI is able to put our world-class tools and expertise to work, scaling impact across global value chains to address today’s most vexing issues,” said Kevin Moss, Global Director, Business Center, WRI. “There’s so much to be gained from better management of water risk and deforestation in company supply chains: better profits and better health for people and ecosystems. By working with Cargill to address deforestation and water risk, we can scale positive change well beyond one value chain. Partnerships such as this are critically important to our shared goals of protecting water resources and ending deforestation.”