BONN, Germany (5 December 2024) – On this World Soil Day 2024, the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) and Fairtrade International are pleased to announce a new partnership in which they will work together to leverage their combined expertise to protect the earth’s resources and build resilient environments.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed by CIFOR-ICRAF CEO Éliane Ubalijoro and Melissa Duncan, Fairtrade’s Executive Director, solidifies their commitment to advance nature-based solutions into key supply chains such as coffee and cocoa. This will later be expanded to other product areas such as tea, banana, cotton, sugar and nuts.
This five-year partnership will also foster future mutual endeavours on advocacy and policy influencing and collaboration on exchanging and co-developing knowledge and expertise on priority thematic areas such as climate and the environment, deforestation and decent livelihoods.
They will work side-by-side to support countries and supply chain stakeholders, particularly smallholder farmers, in implementing new legislation, which includes the EU Deforestation Regulation and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. In addition, they will also assist stakeholders in building up their climate resilience and transition to agroecology.
“Fairtrade found in the alliance with CIFOR-ICRAF great synergies as well as a shared commitment to facing the challenges of climate change and the biodiversity crisis,” said Duncan. “With this partnership, we aim to accelerate agroecology transitions, scaling agroforestry systems, and building further climate resilience among Fairtrade producers and workers.”
“This memorandum of understanding represents a significant step forward in our shared commitment to advancing sustainable and equitable livelihoods for smallholder farmers and forest communities,” said Ubalijoro. “By aligning CIFOR-ICRAF’s scientific expertise with Fairtrade’s market-driven approach, we can create meaningful pathways to empower producers, enhance climate resilience, and support biodiversity conservation. Together, we are fostering a future where environmental sustainability and social equity go hand in hand.”
This year’s World Soil Day theme of “Caring for soils: Measure, monitor, manage” is perfectly aligned with the aim of this new strategic partnership to safeguard people and the planet. Indeed, for farmers, healthier and more fertile soils can result in higher incomes through more productivity, less reliance on external inputs, higher crop quality, and increased resilience to climate change. For the planet, enhanced soil health can increase carbon sequestration in soils as well as allowing lower emissions per product thanks to higher yields, both supporting climate change mitigation.
Media and Press Contacts
Azzura Lalani
E: a.lalani@cifor-icraf.org
Rosamaria Mancini
E: r.mancini@fairtrade.net
About CIFOR-ICRAF
The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) harnesses the power of trees, forests and agroforestry landscapes to address the most pressing global challenges of our time – biodiversity loss, climate change, food security, livelihoods and inequity. CIFOR-ICRAF is a non-profit science institution that generates and applies evidence to meet today’s most pressing challenges, including energy insecurity and the climate and biodiversity crises. Over nearly 50 years, we have built vast knowledge on forests and trees outside of forests in agricultural landscapes (agroforestry). Using a multidisciplinary approach, we seek to improve lives and to protect and restore ecosystems. Our work focuses on innovative research, partnering for impact, and engaging with stakeholders on policies and practices to benefit people and the planet. Founded in 1993 and 1978, CIFOR and ICRAF are members of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources.
About Fairtrade International
Fairtrade is an independent non-profit organization representing more than two million small-scale farmers and workers worldwide. It owns the FAIRTRADE Mark, a registered trademark appearing on more than 30,000 products, which is the most recognized and trusted sustainability label in the world. Fairtrade International and its member organizations collaborate with businesses, engage shoppers, activate civil society, and enable producers to take control in order to bring about a fair, sustainable future — a future rooted in social justice.
