WORLD BANK Group member International Financial Corp. is changing the landscape of the agribusiness industry in Davao City as it promotes the internationally recognized Rainforest Alliance certification.

The certification is given to agribusiness firms which promote sustainable farming practices that benefit the entire supply chain, including big companies, small farming communities, regulators, and most importantly, the consumers.

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The internationally recognized certification of sustainable farming practices gives qualifying farms the right to use the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal, which guarantees consumers that the farms take good care of their workers, communities, and the environment.

The certification reduces costs and increases savings for producers by assuring efficient, effective, and environment-friendly farm practices.

"Whether reforesting old farmland, building schools and medical facilities, or providing farm workers with just wages, the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal indicates sustainable practices and a sustainable future," Sabrina Vigilante, Rainforest Alliance's chief of marketing, said.

Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization working to conserve biodiversity and to ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use, business practices, and consumer behavior.

The organization involves businesses and consumers in bringing responsibly produced goods and services to a marketplace where the demand for sustainable production is growing steadily.

At present, the organization has certified 18 percent of bananas, 1.3 percent of coffee, and 3 percent of tea products that are globally traded.

IFC is working with a leading exporter to train out-grower banana farmers for Rainforest Alliance certification that will enable their crops to meet premium market standards and increase their income.

Out-grower farms in the Philippines supply up to 50 percent of the production of the Cavendish banana export industry, the country's 10th largest export valued at US$400 million in 2007.

"Lessons learned from the project will be applied to other banana out-grower farms working with other leading firms and to other crop sectors," Colin Taylor, IFC manager for the Davao City-based Agribusiness Linkages Program, said during a local conference of IFC for agribusiness industry leaders.

Peter Sprang of Rainforest Alliance's Asia Pacific regional office said that on a global scale, they are already certifying coffee, chocolates, tea, bananas, mangoes, pineapples, and avocadoes, among other agricultural products.

"But here in the Philippines, the certification standards in place pertain only to bananas and pineapples. We are still in the process of developing local indicators for certification of Philippine crops including coffee, cacao, sugar cane, oil palm, and coconut," Sprang said. (CPM/With press release)