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HomePosts Tagged "IDH"
Agribusiness, India, Interaction, Oilseeds

Panel discussions at the summit focused on advancing sustainable farming, strengthening supply chain resilience, and accelerating public-private partnerships through technology.

IDH held the second edition of its annual event, SUTRA 2.0: The Sustainable Trade Summit 2024, at The Oberoi, Gurugram, on October 17-18, 2024. With the theme “Accelerating Responsible Sourcing in Indian Markets,” the summit brought together around 400 industry leaders, policymakers, and sustainability experts to discuss the challenges and solutions to advance responsible sourcing and sustainable supply chains. Building on the success of the inaugural summit, SUTRA 2.0 emphasised ethical and sustainable practices across key sectors such as agriculture, textiles, spices, and palm oil. The summit featured the launch of the India Sustainable Palm Oil Manifesto. The Manifesto seeks to unite stakeholders from the private sector, government, and civil society around a shared commitment to sustainable palm oil sourcing.

Sutra 2.0 featured engaging sessions, covering topics such as regenerative agriculture, innovative financing, gender-inclusive business models, and the transformative role of technology. The key speakers during the event included H.E. Marisa Gerards, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to India; Daan Wensing, Global CEO of IDH; Jagjeet Singh Kandal, Country Director – India, IDH; Sanjeev Asthana, CEO, Patanjali Foods; Sonali Shahpurwala, Managing Director & Head, Inclusive Banking at HSBC India; Anukool Joshi, Director Agro, PepsiCo India; Malavika Gopinath, Sustainability Lead, Olam Agri, and Vilas Shinde, Chairman of Sahyadri Farms. Their insights provided strategies for integrating sustainability into business practices, making supply chains more resilient and socially responsible.

Panel discussions at the summit focused on advancing sustainable farming, strengthening supply chain resilience, and accelerating public-private partnerships through technology. The summit highlighted the power of pre-competitive collaboration, with discussions on leveraging gender-responsive business models and innovative financing to drive sustainable trade. Breakout sessions explored key value chains such as spices, palm oil, coffee, and textiles, addressing sector-specific barriers and solutions. Additionally, the agenda featured cross-sectoral insights on sustainable procurement and regenerative agriculture, aiming to reshape industry practices for a more sustainable future.

Jagjeet Singh Kandal, Country Director – India, IDH, remarked, “Agriculture, a means of livelihood for millions, and a cornerstone of our economy and cultural heritage, stands at a critical juncture today. Not only must we contend with climate change, but we must also prioritise social equity. To ensure a sustainable future, we must focus on three pillars: environmental stewardship, economic viability, and social equity. The SUTRA 2.0 summit on responsible sourcing in India is a crucial platform that will foster important dialogue and unlock pathways to ensure that we empower our farmers while protecting our natural resources.”

The summit served as a platform to launch several new initiatives aimed at scaling sustainable sourcing in key sectors and addressing some of the pertinent challenges. These initiatives include pre-competitive collaborations in multiple sectors, as well as investment commitments to support smallholder farmers and promote climate-resilient agricultural practices.

Panel discussions at the summit focused on

India, Interaction, Sustainability, Textile industry

IDH and Better Cotton organised ‘Agriclimate Nexus: Food, Fibre and Regeneration for Sustainable Growth in India’.

 IDH and Better Cotton, the world’s largest cotton sustainability initiative, brought together thought leaders, actors and innovators to build consensus on the scope and merits of regenerative agriculture, as well as to identify opportunities for action across policy, business, finance, and research. The event was hosted in New Delhi to promote regenerative agriculture in India through collaboration, innovation, and creating an enabling environment.

The event provided a platform for participants from farming communities, private sector, civil society and government to collaborate, share insights, and drive meaningful progress towards a sustainable and regenerative agricultural future that would protect the environment and improve the livelihoods of millions of small farming communities involved in the production of food and fiber crops in India.

Discussions reiterated the importance of regenerative agriculture to address issues of climate change by sequestering carbon in the soil, preventing soil degradation & water scarcity, and the loss of biodiversity, thereby enhancing food security, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and restoring ecosystems.

The event enabled participants to share the barriers faced and hear about solutions, including the adoption of the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria as well as the importance of promoting a ‘Landscape’ approach that supports change within a geographic jurisdiction in collaboration with all the stakeholders in that region. Participants agreed to continue sharing their learning, tools, and approaches even after the event to keep the conversation going and accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture.

Pramit Chanda, Global Director Textiles & Manufacturing – IDH, emphasized the need for collective action, saying, “Through this event, we aspire to create a dynamic, multi-sectoral network and mobilize stakeholders towards a more sustainable and regenerative future for agriculture in India. In this, it is paramount that each stakeholder group considers the role they can play to make this a reality.”

Jyoti Narain Kapoor, Country Director – India, Better Cotton, commented on the importance of the event, stating, “Scaling the use of regenerative agricultural practices will be important to farming communities globally if they’re to ensure their operations are resilient in the face of climate change. This convening will go a long way in strengthening cross-commodity relations and aligning organizations committed to supporting this cause.”

Regenerative agriculture offers a sustainable solution to address the pressing challenges faced by Indian agriculture. Through their joint efforts, IDH and Better Cotton aim to accelerate the adoption of regenerative practices, create an enabling environment, and contribute to the revitalization of India’s agriculture sector. As next steps, IDH and Better Cotton commit to continuing to engage in multi-stakeholder dialogue on regenerative agriculture, drawing participation from stakeholders across the food and fashion industries, as well as other key groups such as government entities, civil society organizations, academia, and the financial sector. A common framework and enabling environment will help in advancing discussions on regenerative agriculture across policy, finance, and industry.

IDH and Better Cotton organised ‘Agriclimate Nexus: