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Topics

The starting point

More than 400 million people live on the cultivation of agricultural commodities such as coffee, cocoa, bananas, palm oil or cotton. The cultivation of these raw materials is usually done in small-scale farming structures.

Smallholders are thus the basis for a secure, sustainable supply of food to the world's population. However, poverty, child labor, environmental problems and outdated cultivation methods continue to be major challenges in the cultivation of agricultural commodities.

In recent years, several commodity-specific multi-stakeholder partnerships (MAPs) have been set up to make agricultural supply chains more sustainable. Many companies are members of the relevant MAP platforms and also invest in their own sustainability programs. Certification through voluntary sustainability standards also makes an important contribution to the development of sustainable agricultural supply chains.

Nevertheless, low wages and incomes and deforestation continue to be a problem. A common approach by all actors across the borders of their supply chains promises greater impact.

In the brochure Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains you will find more information about our work, different measures and about the different raw materials. 

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Deforestation-free supply chains

Forests cover one third of the earth's surface, are the habitat for many of the known animal and plant species and important climate protectors. They are also the basis of life for more than 1.6 billion people.

But forests are under threat. Every four seconds, forests the size of a football field disappear. About half of the global forest destruction affects the tropical forests at the equator, one of the most important cultivation zones for agricultural raw materials such as palm oil, soy, rubber, coffee and cocoa.

The widespread clearing is often due to large companies and their plantations. However, due to the disastrous income situation, low productivity and crop failures as a result of climatic changes, many smallholder families are also forced to expand their cultivation areas and clear valuable forest for this purpose.

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Gender equity

Women play a fundamental role in agricultural supply chains, but their contributions and challenges often remain invisible. Their limited access to resources such as land, finance and modern technology restricts their effective participation in agricultural supply chains. In addition, they face unequal pay and precarious working conditions. Disadvantage and discrimination are not only based on gender, but also on a variety of other intersectional factors such as skin colour, religion, disability etc. Achieving gender equity in the agricultural sector is not only a quest for social justice, but also contributes to economic progress, food security and environmental protection. Cooperation at individual, institutional and political level is crucial to this.

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Living income and living wage

In many countries of the world, smallholder families and agricultural workers cannot make a living from their hard work in the fields. The income from agriculture is usually so low that many families can neither invest in their farms nor in education or a healthy diet. Only through earning a living income or living wage can extreme poverty and the resulting child labor be combated. Higher incomes and wages also help to increase the attractiveness of agriculture as an employment sector for future generations and thus secure the future supply of raw materials.


Therefore, SASI is committed to enable living incomes and living wages along global agricultural supply chains!

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Digitalisation and Traceability

Digitalisation can make a decisive contribution to improving the sustainability of global agricultural supply chains and promoting living conditions in rural areas. Information services on mobile devices enable smallholder farmers to access modern farming methods, weather data and world market prices, which can lead to a resource-efficient increase in their crop yields, improved product quality and higher incomes. It also provides access to innovation, financial and insurance services, and educational opportunities. By monitoring land use on the basis of satellite data, changes in land use areas can be detected. 

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