An Overview Of Our Solution
As the challenges of industrial production become more widely understood, there has been an effort by industry to re-brand industrial practices as sustainable. Rather than greenwashing industrial practices, Greener World’s replicable certification programs (Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW, Certified Grassfed by AGW and Certified Non-GMO by AGW) exist as an affordable, market-driven solution for smaller scale, sustainable agricultural producers using verified, science-based practices that protect water and the natural environment while ensuring high animal welfare. These programs promote economic success by providing market differentiation and a marketing umbrella to ensure that greenwashing and humane-washing don’t impact farmers who are genuinely using sustainable practices. AGW’s standards and procedures are robust, transparent and achievable.
Who is this solution impacting?
Community Type
Rural
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: Africa
General Information
Organization type
Nonprofit
Ecosystem (select all that apply)
Deserts
Forests
Freshwater
Grasslands
Oceans/Coasts
Population impacted
Includes farmers and surrounding communities
Challenge
Size of agricultural area
3 million acres
Production quantity
1,500 farms
People employed
Variable by farm
Solution
Describe your solution
The core of our solution is a set of science-based, practical standards of high-welfare, environmentally sustainable livestock production that can be audited, certified, and promoted to consumers seeking sustainable products. Among other things these standards prohibit added hormones and subtherapeutic antibiotics, protect waterways, promote use of traditional and pasture-adapted breeds, require outdoor, pasture- and range-based management and ensure the highest level of animal welfare from birth through slaughter. These standards provide a roadmap for farmers and a way to add value to their products. The labels give consumers a way to purchase with confidence, and a solution to the growing problem of greenwashing. We offer farmers, ranchers and food producers, three certifications: Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW, Certified Grassfed by AGW and Certified Non-GMO by AGW.
With respect to biodiversity, pasture-based systems are inherently home to a diversity of life. For example in cattle production: In contrast to a monoculture feedlot powered by monocultured corn and soy, a pasture-based system stewards the natural environment in harmony with the cattle raised. Birds, pollinators, herbs and a living web of flora and fauna thrive with high-quality, low-input beef as a valuable byproduct.
Implementation
Describe your implementation
AGW identifies, audits, certifies and promotes practical, sustainable farming systems by supporting farmers and ranchers and informing consumers. AGW’s certification programs are designed to have positive and measurable impacts on the environment, society and animals, and to encourage truly sustainable farming practices. We have over 10 years’ experience in running this program in North America, and can provide detailed templates, guidelines, policies and resources that can replicated and adapted for use in South Africa. We have the manual, we’re just sharing training. That said, we are very cognizant that our partners on the ground in South Africa will understand their ecosystem and market the best, and that our roles is as a resource, not a teacher or director. We can provide a replicable template, but the implementation with be tailored by and for South Africans. It is quite clear the free market is dominant currently and this is a free-market solution working with NGO principles.
Steps for Implementation:
1) Identify and formalize “seed team” in South Africa
2) Formalize non-profit status of A Greener World South Africa
3) Identify ISO-accredited auditing provider to audit standards
4) Facilitate training, listening sessions, skill-sharing and mentorship between North America and South African teams
5) Translate Farm Health Online into any applicable local languages and adapt disease coverage for the region
6) Launch first certified products into the South African marketplace with ongoing mentorship support from North American team
Additionally, AGW’s Farm Health Online is a free website for farmers, ranchers, advisers and veterinarians, offering practical advice to support high-welfare management of food animals in outdoor systems. FHO is example of forward-thinking, solutions-based resource provision and expanding practical knowledge within communities.Funds permitting, we would update this valuable resource for a South African audience.
External connections
We have completed the initial groundwork in exploring the potential for work in South Africa through an exploratory on-the-ground assessment last year. We have identified and secured committed partners in the NGO, academic, farming, government and retail sectors in South Africa. We have already deepened those relationships, inviting South African climate scientists to a climate change and agriculture meeting in the UK, providing technical support to South African farms and working with South African consumer groups to further transparent labeling. Despite all of this forward movement, our partnership in South Africa is still very much in its infancy as we are actively seeking funding to initiate the beginning phase of this work.
Results
What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?
When you confine large animals in one place, you have to deal with the huge volumes of excrement they produce. Whether cattle, hogs or poultry, industrial livestock operations produce vast quantities of concentrated waste–a toxic concoction of feces, heavy metals, antibiotic and other drug residues, growth hormones, animal blood, and harmful bacteria such as E. coli. The threat to our water supplies and biodiversity from industrial livestock farming is not limited to toxic manure effluent: Vast quantities of fertilizer are used to grow millions of acres of grain crops for livestock feed. It’s now widely accepted that intensive cattle feedlots and other confinement livestock systems are responsible for the vast majority of agriculture’s total GHG emissions, and that high-welfare, pasture-based systems provide a sustainable, climate-friendly alternative.
Describe the context in which you are operating
A nonprofit funded by public donations, A Greener World offers a range of resources to help people make informed food choices, including a family of credible third party certification programs (including Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW, Certified Grassfed by AGW and Certified Non-GMO by AGW), an Online Directory of certified farms and products and Food Labels Exposed—a definitive guide to food label claims (available in print, online, and as a smartphone app). We have recently been described by Consumer Reports in the New York Times as the only humane label worth paying for, building on our past rating by Consumers Union as the only highly meaningful label for outdoor access, animal welfare and sustainability. Our unrivalled agricultural expertise is unique in the NGO community. The most important asset to AGW’s successful growth and development is owed to an organizational appreciation for the value of real agricultural experience. We also work to educate consumers and farmers by partnering with regional organizations to expand our reach.
After 10 years of success in the U.S. and Canada we are actively expanding our operations are to other parts of the world including South Africa, Mexico and China, and are thus seeking funding to support the initial implementation in these areas. The scope of this project is solely for partnering with a seed team (with whom we already have a working relationship) in South Africa.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
The way we farm, the nutritional quality of the meat, milk and eggs produced, and the impact of farming systems on wildlife, the environment and wider society are all connected. The research shows that healthier animals mean healthier, better tasting meat, dairy and eggs. Encouraging a proactive approach to animal health and welfare planning, and providing conditions that enable animals to exhibit natural behaviours, results in happier, healthier animals. These farming systems also invigorate the local farm economy while protecting and rejuvenating the local ecosystem. The certification programs offered by AGW ensure that waterways are protected, wildlife is respected, and farms operate as part of their local ecosystem. Detailed standards and metrics can be accessed at: https://animalwelfareapproved.us/standards/. Feedback on the impact of certification from certified farms and impacted entities is available here: https://animalwelfareapproved.us/about/endorsements/
Credible third-party certification of sustainable meat, dairy and eggs, such as that provided by A Greener World, offers a transparent solution to support farmers and consumers in building the market for truly sustainable production that benefits all.
Language(s)
English and a range of South African dialects
Water
Well-managed pasture-based farming systems do not result in the environmental pollution risks to water or air as industrial livestock farms—rather, they work in concert with nature to support biologically healthy ecosystems. Livestock urine and feces are naturally distributed by the animals themselves in ecosystem-appropriate quantities. While manure from industrial systems is toxic waste, manure from well-managed pasture- and range-based farming systems is beneficial fertilizer.
Food Security/Nutrition
Livestock are closely linked to the social and cultural lives of several million resource-poor farmers for whom animal ownership ensures varying degrees of sustainable farming and economic stability. Livestock are important contributors to total food production. This project builds on the agricultural traditions of the region while lifting them up and formalizing the market for products of traditional systems, based on a set of transparent standards that consumers and retailers can trust.
Economic/Sustainable Development
Livestock production is a very important part of the agricultural economy of developed and developing countries. High-welfare, pasture-based systems have many tangential benefits associated with them, including more resilient communities, lower overhead and infrastructure, self-sufficient farm economies, reduced public health risk from antibiotic resistant bacteria and industrial livestock pollution and a healthier environment. Certification supports a reliable market for sustainable production.
Climate
The certification programs offered by A Greener World (AGW) directly mirror the FAO’s recommendations for addressing agricultural sustainability in a changing climate (available here: http://www.fao.org/3/a-I5758E.pdf). AGW is actively lessening the negative impacts of animal agriculture on the environment (i.e. soil degradation, water & air pollution and climate change), while promoting positive impacts through agricultural systems that benefit communities and the planet as a whole.
Sustainability
Our model, which has proven successful in North America, is that our baseline certification, Animal Welfare Approved, is free to farmers and additional optional accreditations such as Certified Grassfed by A Greener World and Certified Non-GMO by A Greener World help to cover the costs of the entire program. Thus, all farmers have access to a free value-adding certification, which improves their economic opportunities and is in effect subsidized by producers with the market ability to pay reasonable fees for additional accreditations. Investment into A Greener World South Africa is multiplied with each farmer that is certified.
Return on investment
Individual farms’ ROI is dependent on the individual market, but in some cases we have seen farmers selling eggs for $1/dz on the conventional market receive as much as $9/dz after becoming Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World. Certification can also be an entry point to retail markets. Regardless of monetary ROI, in all cases there is an environmental return on investment by ensuring sustainable, environmentally sound livestock production.
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Replication and Scale
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
This solution is already proven to be replicable; AGW began solely as a U.S. project and expanded to Canada. We have already received numerous requests to work in other countries. South Africa is the most ready for implementation at this time and thus the subject of this proposal. Regarding the parameters for successful replication:
1) A Greener World is successful in North America; this grant is to expand to South Africa.
2) We will use mentoring to transfer AGW’s successes and skills in North America to South Africa
3) Successful replication depends on utilizing AGW’s respected, science-based, practical farm standards and an ISO-accredited audit provider, along with ongoing mentorship and conversation with AGW North America.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions regarding replication or program details. We would be more than happy to provide further information if needed. Thank you in advance for your consideration and best of luck in the selection process.