Opinion: Greenwashing Fails Everyone – Especially The Businesses Doing It

By Scott Cogdill, director of agronomy solutions, at Proagrica

Consumers have been demanding more information on the provenance of their food for some time. Next, their attention will - inevitably - turn to sustainability within the supply chain itself. Sustainability statements of intent on various websites and marketing collateral will cut it only so far: consumers are wise to greenwashing and if actions don’t match words, they’re more than ready to call it out.
 
This is likely to be compounded with commercial imperatives. Wall Street is taking an active interest in the potential dividends to be had from sustainable farming – we’ve seen one sustainability-minded food company IPO at $200m this summer, an impressive figure mid-COVID. 
 
Clearly, the impact for the whole supply chain–from growers, agronomists, and ag manufacturers - is evident: sustainability is rising up the consumer and commercial agenda, making the issue a key business priority for agriculture. So where to start?
 
Make the mindset shift
 
It’s no secret that bottom lines are tight for growers, so sustainability may not seem a commercially viable or even business-critical option. But there are other ‘budgets’ at play here that have to be taken into account as part of a future-proofing strategy. The two strongest drivers are climate change, and consumer opinion.
 
According to a Syngenta survey from June 2020, 72 percent of farmers have significant concerns about climate change’s impact on their ability to grow food over the next five years. With worries about an ability to generate revenue in the middle term, the business imperative to address sustainability is compelling.
 
And then there’s the court of public opinion. What consumers think matters - they’re our industry’s end users, and their tastes have defined what and how we grow. Sustainable agriculture is no different. 
 
Producers understand that a shift towards sustainability and protecting biodiversity can be costly.  However, they are also aware of the financial risks of doing nothing - you only have to look at the global concerns around bee population as a case in point. While this is very much at micro level, organizations like the IPBES are putting big figures - to the tune of some $622bn lost because of declining in-sect populations - to it. With this sort of sum, the micro is inevitably going to lead to some pretty big macro pressure too. 
 
Practices that act to reverse the decline of pollinators, notably bees, can have a positive impact for the industry as a whole, the practices and the data associated with it can create value-added opportunities for the grower within the greater supply chain. 
 
Weighing up profit from making an early transition against what’s at stake if we don’t is therefore key. It’s an equation businesses like Syngenta have already addressed - and taken action on with initiatives like ‘Good Growth Plan’ which pledges to invest in $2bn in sustainable agriculture breakthroughs by 2025, aiming to deliver two sustainable technology breakthroughs per year.
 
‘Green finance’ also comes in the form of sustainability-Linked Loans (SLL), which hit $135.3bn in loans last year alone.
 
Educate to nudge
 
A key element of the sustainability story is education. We all have a part to play here, of course, but as ‘overseers’ of the supply chain, ag retailers in particular come into their own here. They, more than any other stakeholder, potentially have visibility up- and down-stream. This gives ag retailers unique end-to-end knowledge with which to inform the aforementioned court of public opinion.
 
As such, this is a clear opportunity for growers and the ag retailers to cement a more strategic partner-ship, based on data and informed insight. 
 
The ag retailer can simultaneously advise a fertilization plan that uses sustainable practices like split application timing and the use of inhibitors to minimize runoff or volatilization with no impact to yield and profitability. They can align with a sustainable message by providing education on the latest technologies, and financial support of farming practices that can help make the sustainable shift.
 
For all of this, transparency is key - including honest data sharing from growers. And yet a recent sur-vey from the Trust in Food Initiative and the Sustainability Consortium found 71% of farmers said their primary ag adviser or consultant had never suggested sharing on-farm data. The same survey found only half believe their customers have a right to know how they manage their farms. 
 
This is self-limiting though; growers can use their data to demonstrate their green credentials. In the current landscape, this gives them a platform to add value to their operations. Perception is all important, but data adds another layer – the producer is able to evidence any assertions they make on sustainability. In turn, the status as an ethical producer has positive repercussions down the supply chain all the way to the end consumer. 
 
All for one and one for all
 
There’s clearly work to be done here. Collaboration, and trust, can absolutely drive the sustainability message forward. 
 
Having said that, it’s understandable growers and other supply chain stakeholders are reluctant to share their data. Aside from the crops they grow, data is their most valuable asset. And it makes sense that product distributors/retailers are naturally wary of ceding too much on-farm or customer data to input manufacturers for fear of disintermediation and potential implications for future price negotiations. 
 
Yet what sectors beyond agriculture are understanding is that there is a clear value exchange here. Transparency is what will engender trust, ensuring each stakeholder only receives the data for the reason they need. It’ll grant each stakeholder the confidence he or she retains ownership of their core non-crop asset. What’ll bind this all together is interoperability of the manifold operating systems in place.
 
With more integrated collaboration, data sharing and data harnessing, ag businesses stand not only to make the transition, but profit from it - financially and environmentally. When you reflect on this, greenwashing fails us all.