Rainforest Alliance is to bolster its food certification scheme to ensure growers and brands make better use of technology to tackle climate change, respect human rights and invest in sustainable farming. Known for its certification of coffee, tea, cocoa and bananas, Rainforest Alliance is committed to improving its certification schemes to meet growing consumer demand. “Sustainability certification has changed dramatically over the last five to 10 years – there are now much bigger challenges,” said Ruth Rennie, director of standards and assurance at RA. Globally, more than 2 million farmers now use the Alliance’s certification schemes. Members will have to comply with strengthened criteria on forest protection and social issues, while also looking at where climate and human rights risks occur in their supply chains and create a plan to overcome them. A new emphasis on continuous improvement rather than the previous pass/fail system makes sense and will hopefully help to ensure the certification stays relevant in a changing world.
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