What is Sustainable Agriculture Certification?

Sustainable agriculture maintains a balance between food production and environmental preservation. It focuses on producing agricultural products without compromising the needs of current or future generations.

Certifying products through Sustainable agricultural standards communicates to customers that they are sourced from programmes and systems prioritising Sustainable resource use. Friend of the Earth promotes Sustainability through consumer awareness and provides certified companies a reliable platform to showcase their environmental and social accountability, supporting them with co-marketing and communication activities.

Requirements

The requirements that companies must meet to obtain Friend of the Earth certification for sustainable agriculture include:

• A well organised environmental management procedure;
• A system of protection of the ecosystem and implementation of areas dedicated to the conservation of wild flora and fauna;
• The reduction of the use of chemically synthetic substances according to the principles of organic or integrated agriculture;
• The planning and implementation of suitable cultivation rotations and plant fertilisation;
• Biological control, the rational use of water resources and the collection of rainwater;
• Minimization of mechanical operations on the ground and its compaction;
• The use of energy from renewable sources;
• Control of gas emissions and greenhouse effect and the implementation of systems to reduce them;
• Social responsibility.

Apply

As a first step you need to download, compile and return to info@friendoftheearth.org the preliminary information Questionnaire (PIF):

• The PIF does not oblige the applying company to commit to proceeding with the audit phase.
• Any checks before the audit are free of charge.
• All information will be kept strictly confidential.