AKRIBI

Many customers are aware that much of the food they consume is derived from an international value chain. Retailers are increasingly trying to purchase responsibly and keep the associated environmental problems to a minimum. However, the information available for this purpose is usually limited to selected production chains. So far, approaches to product-specific certification have only covered direct environmental impacts on farms and other agricultural holdings. Consequently, other effects, such as loss of natural ecosystems and loss of species caused by indirect land-use changes in the region of origin, are not reflected. This is where the planned project comes in:

•    An ecologically relevant and economically viable method will be developed in cooperation with retail and producing companies in the food sector. With the help of this method, companies can structure their sourcing avenues in such a way that high-risk regions can avoid loss of biodiversity and the associated negative consequences for the livelihoods of the local population – and damage to the company’s image.

•    An expanded agricultural footprint of internationally traded biogenic raw materials and semi-finished goods serves as a starting point. In addition to pure land consumption in the country of origin, this approach should also include regional environmental impacts such as the loss of natural ecosystems, fauna and flora as well as aspects of soil fertility (soil degradation) in order to assess food security. It would then facilitate differentiation by risk class.

•    This method will establish a worldwide, region-based inventory in which the cultivated areas, in particular those intended for export of agricultural goods, can be evaluated accordingly and compared with global reference values as well as German and European cultivated areas.

•    The conceptual approach, the selection, interpretation and utilisation of the evaluation criteria and key figures is carried out in exchange with the relevant economic actors in Germany and stakeholders in exporting countries.

•    Conceptual approaches are developed and empirically tested in order to avoid problem shifting as a result of substitutions whenever retail companies change their purchasing structures.

The project will enable retailers and food processing companies to better assess the sustainability of agricultural export countries and the risk of purchasing from those regions with regard to the biodiversity effects of land use. This region-specific risk classification supports strategic corporate decisions and supplements product-specific operational labelling.

Contact persons:
oliver.bischoff[at]uni-kassel[dot]de

Further information on the project you will find here.