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Louis Dreyfus Company and CSR Asia organize first Responsible Agribusiness Roundtable in Jakarta

Louis Dreyfus Company and CSR Asia organize first Responsible Agribusiness Roundtable in Jakarta
Published: Aug 31, 2017

JAKARTA, Indonesia, August 31st 2017 – Louis Dreyfus Company Indonesia (LDC) together with CSR Asia, organized the first session of CSR Asia’s Responsible Agribusiness Roundtable series in Jakarta today.

The event was attended by some 50 business and sustainability professionals from 30 companies and organizations, who discussed opportunities for local agribusiness to engage with smallholder farmers and adopt inclusive business and gender transformative business models.

The roundtable series was developed by CSR Asia for GRAISEA (Gender Transformative and Responsible Agribusiness Investments in South East Asia), a regional development program funded by the Government of Sweden and implemented by Oxfam. It aims to promote solutions that help improve the livelihoods of small-scale producers through more responsible and inclusive value chains and private sector investments, and to empower women to demonstrate economic leadership

“LDC is pleased and honored to partner with CSR Asia to inaugurate the Responsible Agribusiness Roundtable series. As a company fully committed to sustainable business operations, we believe in supporting industry dialogue for best practice sharing, enabling companies to develop and achieve their own sustainability goals and helping make the world a more inclusive place for everyone,” says Imran Nasrullah, LDC Indonesia CEO.

Isabelle Morin, CSR Asia Singapore Director added, “LDC helped CSR Asia engage with key stakeholders here in Indonesia, bringing together companies that realise the benefits of responsible and inclusive business practices. We believe multi-stakeholder engagement and collaboration is critical to rethink our approach with farmers, particularly
smallholder farmers and support gender transformation. This event was a great opportunity to discuss best practices and practical solutions, marking an important milestone in our collaboration with OXFAM and the Government of Sweden.”

Mr. Nasrullah presented LDC’s sustainability initiatives in Indonesia which notably include its Inang Naburju (“Good Mothers”) project comprising agronomy training and equipment supply to enhance the productivity of women coffee farmers in the Lake Toba region. LDC is also involved in palm oil supply traceability and a school capacity-building project in Lampung, where it operates a biodiesel plant, palm oil refinery, coffee plant and comanages a port.

Meanwhile, Ms. Morin gave an overview of the agribusiness challenges faced in ASEAN and highlighted opportunities for ensuring sustainable agribusiness growth via the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Agenda emphasizes that the agribusiness sector is well-positioned to make an industry-wide contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while prioritizing and addressing sectoral challenges. This will only become possible by creating collaborative, long-term multistakeholder partnerships between government, the private sector and agricultural communities.

During the session, CSR Asia also presented two publications, which address the integral role of the agribusiness sector in achieving long-term regional sustainability in ASEAN.

Publication 1:

Making the Case for Smallholder Inclusion: An Analysis of Ten Agricultural Private Sector Actors who have adopted Responsible and Inclusive Approaches to Smallholder Producers

  • Selection of 10 companies in ASEAN which have realized returns on investments into enhanced community and smallholder engagement.
  • This report can be used as a reference tool to show how the private sector is able to establish their own programs and to outline the range of approaches that contribute to market expansion and supply security. All stakeholders involved in the agribusiness sector can use this analysis as a resource and advocacy driver in promoting better agricultural practices and collective impacts.

Publication 2:

Agribusiness and the SDGs: How the Agribusiness Sector in ASEAN can embrace the Sustainable Development Goals

  • For each SDG, the report explores the challenges and opportunities for the agribusiness sector and identifies innovative organizations that are leading by example or have incorporated various aspects of the SDG into their operations.
  • Companies can use this report as a tool to assess which SDGs are most relevant to their businesses and the impact they have, especially on issues such assmallholder inclusion and gender inequality, while also scoping opportunities toincorporate the SDGs into their own strategies.

With the above presentations serving as inspiration for thought, roundtable participants engaged in breakout group sessions to share their current business models, identify opportunities for partnerships, map out next steps, set objectives and targets, and develop mechanisms to track progress.

About Louis Dreyfus Company

Louis Dreyfus Company is a leading merchant and processor of agricultural goods. We leverage our global reach and extensive asset network to serve customers and consumers around the world, delivering the right products to the right location, at the right time – safely, responsibly and reliably. Our activities span the entire value chain from farm to fork, across a broad range of business lines (platforms). Since 1851 our portfolio has grown to include Oilseeds, Grains, Freight, Global Markets, Coffee, Cotton, Sugar, Rice, Juice and Dairy. We help feed and clothe some 500 million people every year by originating, processing and transporting approximately 80 million tons of products. Structured as a matrix organization of 6 geographical regions and 10 platforms, Louis Dreyfus Company is active in over 100 countries and employs approximately 18 000 people globally. For more information, visit www.ldc.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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