Guidance: You may include activities on implementation of sustainable agriculture practices as part of your climate adaptation
plan and in the Fairtrade Development Plan (see SPO requirements 4.1.1. and 4.1.2). Please note that this requirement
supersedes SPO Standard requirement 3.2.42 on Climate Change adaptation (Dev. Year 3).
Sustainable agricultural practices depend on your local context. They should respond to the challenges identified in the above
requirement on environmental risk assessments and take into account the human and financial capacity of your organization
and members. Examples include:
• Biological management of pests, diseases and weeds (e.g. integrated pest
management, push and pull methods), to reduce the long-term incidence of pests
and environmental and health hazards caused by chemical control
• Cover crops and mulching to reduce erosion, provide nutrients to the soil and
enhance biological control of pests
• Integrated nutrient management such as compost, organic manure and nitrogen-
fixing crops to reduce or eliminate the use of chemical fertilisers and to restore soil
fertility
• Mixing crops in a single plot (intercropping / polycultures) and using complementary
biological inputs to improve soil nutrients
• Planting resistant varieties and using natural pest control
• Agroforestry which maintains and improves soil fertility and structure, and modifies
the microclimate for crops. If in Central America, the Suitability of key Central American
agroforestry species under future climates: an Atlas provides examples of suitable species
widely used in Central America for shade in coffee agroforestry systems, and for
Indonesia you can refer to the Shade Catalogue
• Practising a layered approach to agroforestry - for example, trees which provide not
only fruit or nuts but a canopy and shelter; shrubs which produce food and habitat for
wildlife; ground cover which provide protection from soil erosion
• Efficient water use such as rainwater harvesting and composting, keyline design
water flow management (if applicable) and, water-recycling systems
• Composting and waste recycling
• Safe handling of waste water from central processing facilities to eliminate negative
impact on water quality, soil fertility or food safety.
Practices that increase climate and environmental resilience are sustainable agriculture practices such as agroecology. For
more guidance and examples, please refer to the IUCN report: Approaches to sustainable agriculture.
Fairtrade International will develop a position paper on sustainable agriculture practices early 2022.
Organizations certified before 15 July 2021 have to comply with this requirement by 15 July 2025.