The Instituto para o Agronegócio Responsável (Responsible Agribusiness Institute) – Ares launched, at the 2008 Ethos International Conference, the Declaration for Sustainable Development, a public commitment to social and environmental causes that provides the society with an argument for demanding compliance from companies.
Founded six months ago, the institute comprises 20 entities that represent several production chains directly or indirectly connected to the Brazilian agribusiness. Ares’ biggest challenge is reaching a common denominator, given the entities’ diverging interests. “The declaration is the result of discussions carried out in the institute and discloses to the public the stages reached in this dialogue and our commitment to economic development achieved in a socially fair manner”, explains Roberto Waack, president of Amata and Ares’ board member.
The declaration is part of one of the institute’s strategies for action – communication –, aimed at disseminating agribusiness-related knowledge, information and responsible practices. “The declaration is a public commitment”, defines Waack.
See below the full declaration.
Declaration for Sustainable development
The Brazilian agribusiness is fundamental to meeting a changing and increasing world demand. There is an unprecedented fight for the four Fs: food, fuel, feed and fiber.
This mission shall be accomplished provided there is commitment to the three Ps: people, profit and planet. This means producing food, fuel, feed and fiber in a socially fair, economically sound and environmentally correct manner.
The agribusiness production chains, represented by the entities comprising the Instituto para o Agronegócio Responsável (Ares), commit ourselves to working together with the civil society to pave the way to sustainability based on reality and knowledge.
We also commit to pursuing balance between the value of agribusiness and the value of the forest.
The challenges are numerous. We believe the sustainability movement enables us to see more clearly the complexity of the agribusiness systems interaction and the role of citizens and the society who are either directly or indirectly involved in these systems.
It is perfectly possible to pursue this way together through continuous improvement and the implementation of good production practices. In this way, sustainable development may effectively become a reality!
The entities currently comprising ARES are the following:
ABAG – Associação Brasileira de Agribusiness (Brazilian Agribusiness Association)
ABAG–RP – Associação Brasileira do Agronegócio da Região de Ribeirão Preto (Brazilian Agribusiness Association - Ribeirão Preto)
ABCZ – Associação Brasileira dos Criadores de Zebu (Brazilian Association of Zebu Breeders)
ABEF – Associação Brasileira dos Produtores e Exportadores de Frangos (Brazilian Association of Poultry Producers and Exporters)
ABIA – Associação Brasileira das Indústrias da Alimentação (Brazilian Association of Food Industry)
ABIEC – Associação Brasileira das Indústrias Exportadoras de Carnes (Brazilian Beef Exporters Association)
ABIMILHO – Associação Brasileira das Indústrias do Milho (Brazilian Association of Corn Milling Industry)
ABIOVE – Associação Brasileira das Indústrias de Óleos Vegetais (Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries)
ABIPECS – Associação Brasileira da Indústria Produtora e Exportadora de Carne Suína (Brazilian Association of Pork Meat Exporters)
ANDA – Associação Nacional para Difusão de Adubos (National Association for Fertilizer Dissemination)
ANDEF – Associação Nacional de Defesa Vegetal (National Association of Vegetal Defense)
ANFAVEA – Associação Nacional dos Fabricantes de Veículos Automotores (National Automotive Vehicle Manufacturers Association)
APROSOJA – Associação dos Produtores de Soja do Estado de Mato Grosso (State of Mato Grosso Soybean Association)
CNA – Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Confederation)
CNI – Confederação Nacional da Indústria (National Confederation of Industry)
CNPC – Conselho Nacional da Pecuária de Corte (Brazilian National Beef Cattle Council)
OCB – Organização das Cooperativas Brasileiras (Organization of Brazilian Cooperatives)
ORPLANA – Organização dos Plantadores de Cana do Centro-Sul do Brasil (Organization of Sugar Cane Farmers of the Central-Southern Region of Brazil)
SRB – Sociedade Rural Brasileira (Brazilian Rural Society)
UNICA – União da Agroindústria Canavieira de São Paulo (Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association)
