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OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains

The OECD-FAO Guidance on Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains is FAO’s central framework for addressing due diligence, agricultural supply chains and development. As a leading standard for responsible business conduct (RBC) in the agricultural sector, the OECD-FAO Guidance has seen wide uptake from governments and companies in managing adverse impacts related to commodity production and trade. It helps convey how enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and reduce environmental and social risks in cooperation with suppliers in agricultural supply chains, while driving better development outcomes from farm to consumer.

Adopted in 2016, the OECD-FAO Guidance was developed jointly by the OECD and FAO following a two-year process led by a multi-stakeholder advisory group that included governments, investors, agri-food companies, farmers’ organizations, civil society organizations and others. To allow for wider stakeholder engagement, the process also involved a public consultation. The Guidance has received government and multilateral support, including by G7 and G20 agriculture ministers.

The OECD-FAO Guidance presents a globally recognized framework for the application of RBC in global trade and agricultural supply chains. Its risk and development approach introduces how business and agricultural production may impact areas such as: food security and nutrition, human rights, labour and child rights, gender, climate change, natural resource depletion and deforestation, governance, animal welfare, land tenure rights, technology and innovation, and others.

The OECD-FAO Guidance incorporates other established standards for RBC, including the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), and the Committee on World Food Security’s Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI).

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The OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains:


 

introduces a model enterprise policy, outlining the standards that enterprises should observe to build responsible agricultural supply chains;

 

provides a framework for risk-based due diligence describing the five practical steps that enterprises should follow to identify, assess, mitigate and report on work for addressing the adverse impacts of their activities;

 

outlines and describes the major risks faced by enterprises in the agricultural sector, highlighting measures for mitigating these risks; and

 

features examples on engaging with and addressing development vis-à-vis vulnerable groups, such as indigenous peoples.

OECD-FAO five-step framework for risk-based due diligence:

Latest  publications
Pilot project on the implementation of the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains
11/07/2019

This final report presents the key findings of the pilot project for testing the practical application of the OECD-FAO Guidance. It includes progress made over the pilot timeline, and summarizes the key lessons learned, good practices and challenges highlighted through the activities implemented with pilot participants throughout the duration of the pilot project. It provides conclusions and recommendations for various categories of staekholders.

OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains
01/01/2016

FAO and the OECD have jointly developed this practical guidance to help enterprises observe existing standards of responsible business conduct along agricultural supply chains. The guidance is a summary of existing voluntary standards and principles, including the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS RAI) endorsed by the CFS in 2014. It does not aim to create any new standards, nor does it seek to substitute existing ones. Rather, the guidance aims to help c ompanies implement existing standards by providing recommendations on the steps that they should undertake to identify and address risks of adverse impacts that stem from their activities. This is part of a broader effort of FAO to promote good practices for agricultural investment.

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