To join our mailing list please contact Felicity Koch. Click here to view this email online.

Issue No 7. April 2010   SAI Platform Australia has taken sustainability executive education to a new level by undertaking an inaugural field trip to Wagga Wagga in November last year. This highly successfully trip provided a unique opportunity for participants to hear and see about sustainability challenges and achievements first hand from progressive farmers, with Platform members keen to hold another one in 2010. In another 'first' for the Platform, a number of members have come together to support a pilot project on Water Footprinting of grains conducted by the CSIRO, illustrating the collaborative benefits the Platform offers members. The results of this will provide an opportunity to contribute to the debate on water scarcity and improve standards. We are delighted to welcome Dairy Australia and Sugar Australia as members to the Platform and look forward to the additional experience they will bring. As a new initiative member meetings are now being alternated around Australia with the last two meetings having been held in Canberra and Sydney. Our President was in Brussels in March and met with SAI Platform Global managers to seek ways we can work together on initiatives in the future. They discussed a number of exciting opportunities available to us. There is a great deal more sustainability news in the pages ahead.   Australian Platform News Global SAI News Global Sustainability News

	Australian Platform News
	Field Trip SAI Platform Australia conducted a two-day field trip to Wagga Wagga NSW and surrounding areas on the 11 and 12 November with 26 member executives participating. The first day was held at Charles Sturt University and provided an opportunity for information exchange involving a wide spectrum of speakers including leading farmers, operating at the forefront of agricultural sustainability, and with a focus on water. On the second day, farms were visited to see the benefits of innovative technologies and water management practices for sustainable crop production. Members are very keen to undertake further field trips in 2010, given the success of this inaugural trip.
	Water Footprinting Study A number of our members have recently supported a study in 'water footprinting' specifically looking at the true environmental impact of water (rather than total volumes used) on wheat, barely and oats. The research was conducted by Dr Brad Riddout, Principal Scientist, CSIRO Sustainable Agriculture Flagship and found that 'the vast majority of Australian grains are produced without the use of supplemental irrigation and therefore with little potential to contribute to freshwater scarcity'. This is good news for Australia as a large exporter and consumer of grains reducing concerns about the impact of water on the sustainability of grain production.
	New members Dairy Australia and Sugar Australia has recently joined SAI Platform Australia as members. Their membership will bring an expanded dimension to agricultural sustainability discussions given the wide-ranging work they undertake across the whole Australian Dairy and Sugar industries for their own membership bases.
	President visits Brussels Our President David Koch recently met with Peter-Erik Ywema General Manager and Giovanni Malfatti Communications Manager SAI Platform (Global) in Brussels to discuss ways that the Global and Australian offices could work together for the benefit of sustainable agriculture world-wide. A number of innovative initiatives were discussed including collaborative pilot projects, participation in each other's conferences and global farmer based field trips to build our members knowledge base to a more global level.
	Sustainability Educational Needs in the classroom SAI Platform Australia's Secretary, Selwyn Heilbron recently participated in a Primary Industries Education Foundation (PIEF) workshop convened to address the growing concern among rural industry organisations and representatives as to the ad hoc nature of education programs surrounding Australia's primary industries in schools. Not all schools have resources in this area so programs funds need to be channeled effectively to educate children on important agricultural sustainability issues. As a result of this, a variety of rural based organisations met and made representations to government to discuss future options. Many of those involved are aware of the Food, Agriculture and Countryside Education program in the UK (FACE) and the Agriculture in the Classroom program in Canada. The two-day workshop focused on developing a long-term strategy for PIEF as an organisation, which can add value by serving as a link between educators and industry. It was supported by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) and the National Institute for Regional and Rural Australia (NIRRA). SAI Platform Australia is interested in finding opportunities where the work our members undertake for pilot projects and mapouts may be of value for such a program. Click here for more information on the outcomes of the workshop. A workshop for Victorian representatives is to be held in June to discuss state specific opportunities.
	Mapouts –sustainability projects. When members join our Platform, they make a commitment to identify ways they can improve sustainability practices within their organisations. Each member is required to document sustainability improvements to enable fellow members to learn from each others initiatives. Kelloggs, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation and National Foods have recently submitted summaries of sustainability projects that they have undertaken. Our 13 members have proudly documented a total of 69 different sustainability initiatives.
	Working Groups A customer demand working group was held at the General meeting in February with a focus on identifying developments in environmental certification including a discussion on varying certification schemes and opportunities for SAI Platform initiatives. At our next working group meeting in May we will have speakers presenting about sustainability performance indicators, sustainable raw materials sourcing practices, and carbon labelling developments internationally.
	Goodman Fielder – release sustainability report. Goodman Fielder has released its first sustainability report for stakeholders. They also have a new corporate logo. The report can be viewed by clicking here.

	Back to top

	Global SAI News
	3rd Conference on Sustainable Agriculture - The Art of Farming Brussels 11-12 May 2010. Registrations Open SAI Global Platform have announced they will be hosting a conference addressing forefront sustainability in agriculture and the food chain engaging high level speakers. Coca-Cola, Danone,Kellogg, Nestlé and Unilever; Agrarfrost, Novus International and Sara Lee are all financially supporting the conference and the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) is conference a partner taking care of the special session on capacity building. Full details of the conference program are available at www.sustainable-ag.org/
	Executive Education Training Seminar A two day training workshop has been developed in cooperation with the IMD, one of the world's best executive education institutes to explain agricultural sustainability to executives across different areas of business. From marketing, communications, procurement to finance the course seeks to clarify the value adding opportunities sustainable agriculture provides. We hope to have this course available to Australian members in the near future.
	SAI Platform General Assembly – Geneva 13-14 April 2010 The Global Platform General Assembly will take place in Switzerland. Australian Chapter members are invited to attend.
	McCain Sustainability Report McCain Foods has published its first Global Corporate Social Responsibility Report. The agriculture section starts on page 22 (there is also a reference on page 9 on their India Irrigation Project). On page 24 you will see featured the membership and participation in the SAI Global Platform. To view it go to McCain.com or click here.
	New Film After the success of the first SAI Platform film, we decided to make a new one. It is a testimonial of what we achieved in all these years and what we are working on. It will be a useful and flexible tool to present the SAI Platform in just a few minutes. The first flim can be viewed at www.saiplatform.org.
	Working Group News Arable and Vegetable Crops - January 2010, Schiphol – Netherlands At its last meeting the WG endorsed their updated and merged Principles & Practices. The next step is to implement them at a large scale. The polish workshop (June 2010) is one way to seek for this; the group seeks other opportunities to use the collective power and responsibility to build capacity. Coffee At a workshop held in Rotterdam October 15, the WG coffee approved the outcomes analysis report. The group is now working on its 2010 Roadmap. Dairy - January 2010, Bruxelles The WG dairy is working on its 2010 Roadmap along the two main axes: best practices' indicators and follow-up to the dairy declaration and green paper. Brian Lindsay will undertake all of that work, as well as enlarging the WG's scope to livestock. Fruit - March 2010, Paris The WG met in October with the researchers from Swiss research center ART, to review the first findings of the research 'Carbon and Water Footprint of Fruit Production'. Final presentation and discussion on possible future developments of the study, begin in March. The Chairman Idwin Bouman resigned, and a new one is due to be appointed. Water and Agriculture The WGWA held a seminar on 'Water and Agriculture' on October 6 in Rotterdam which focused on: Water Footprint and the development and testing of best practices. The WG is in the process of developing a roadmap for 2010 aiming at drawing from the findings of the seminar to develop new alliances (e.g. IWMI) and tools in order to encourage mass adoption of sustainable practices.

	Back to top

	Global Sustainability News
	New report shows water scarcity can be mitigated affordably and sustainably A report released today by The 2030 Water Resources Group (Washington DC), Charting Our Water Future, shows that growing water scarcity can be mitigated affordably and sustainably. By providing greater clarity on the scale of the water challenge and the cost of the solutions, it offers a fact-based tool to help stakeholders make informed investment decisions and guide policy discussions. It finds that if no action is taken, by 2030, projected population and economic growth will lead to global water demand that is 40% in excess of current supply. In addition, this means that one-third of the world's population would have access to only half the water they need, living in water basins with a 50% deficit in supply. For more information Click here. Taiwan to promote carbon footprint labelling system Taiwan is working on a system to label the carbon footprints of consumption products as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It will be first applied to products such as PET-bottled beverages, cookies, candies and CDs, on a trial basis. This system will be accompanied by a set of carbon footprint calculation criteria targeting products in Taiwan - source Nestle Sustainability News Issue No. 7 (2010-02-07). Copenhagen Accord Even though the Copenhagen Climate Conference held in Dec. 2009 is generally considered a failure in terms of firm commitments, the world's leaders have for the first time acknowledged unanimously the need to limit greenhouse gases in order to contain the predicted temperature rise to about 2°C. - source Nestle Sustainability News Issue No. 7 (2010-02-07). More information on the Conference website Click here..

	Back to top

	This e-mail is published by saiplatformaust.org
	Would you like to share some relevant news with us? Please e-mail admin@saiplatformaust.org with your tidbits. If you'd like to stop receiving e-mails from us, click here to unsubscribe.

SAI PLATFORM MEMBERS