What is FSA (Farm Sustainability Assessment)?
The Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) is a tool developed by the SAI Platform to drive continuous improvement in social, environmental, and business performance at the farm level. It enables food and drink businesses to assess, improve, and validate on-farm sustainability in their supply chains. The FSA is built around a simple set of questions for farmers, standardizing farm assessments.
Goals and Mission of FSA
FSA aims to:
Drive Continuous Improvement: Foster sustainable and demonstrable improvement in social, environmental, and business performance at the farm level through supply chain engagement and a shared understanding of sustainable agriculture.
Harmonize Approaches: Unite various sustainability schemes under a common framework to identify preferred approaches for each company and supply chain.
Reduce Duplication of Efforts: Minimize the need for farmers and businesses to use multiple sustainability schemes, reducing overlapping efforts and resources.
Create a Level Playing Field: Standardize approaches to make benchmarking results fair and consistent.
Avoid Direct Competition with Existing Schemes: Prevent direct implementation of the FSA from competing with existing sustainability schemes.
Benefits of Adopting FSA
Members of the food and drink industry, farmers, and sustainability scheme and toolkit owners who adopt the FSA benefit from an industry-wide approach to driving farm sustainability, including:
Global Industry Recognition: Provides a level of global industry recognition.
Wider Market Access: Enhances market access for scheme users.
Continuous Improvement: Offers insights for further development of their sustainability schemes.
Risk Reduction: Reduces the risk of developing competing or overlapping programs.
Customizing the FSA
The FSA is relevant for all cultivated agricultural crops in all locations, regardless of farm size. The FSA can be easily customized to fit individual needs and local conditions while aligning with global market expectations.
FSA Benchmarking Process
The FSA benchmarking process involves a detailed analysis where an approved benchmarking consultant reviews the scheme's content, assurance, and governance, comparing it to the FSA. The benchmarking results indicate the level of coverage of the Sustainable Agriculture Questions (SAQ) by the scheme's content, whether the scheme meets the FSA's minimum verification requirements, and if the scheme's governance meets the FSA's minimum requirements.
Conclusion
The FSA is a crucial tool for driving farm sustainability worldwide. By adopting and customizing the FSA, businesses can ensure that their farming practices align with global standards and support sustainable development throughout their supply chains.
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