SSI Background

Why was the SSI Project Developed?
Over the past two decades a growing number of voluntary sustainability initiatives and other multi-stakeholder alliances have emerged to improve the livelihoods of the millions of commodity-dependent producers and manufacturers around the world while reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture. The growth of such initiatives represents an important opportunity for all stakeholders to participate in the greening of global supply chains and improving producer livelihoods.

But the multiplication of initiatives makes it increasingly difficult for stakeholders inside and outside of the initiatives, including policy makers and civil society organizations, finance, food manufacturing and retail sectors - to stay abreast of the latest developments and best practices across the voluntary sector. Moreover, it is exceedingly difficult to assess their utility and performance, let alone the steps required to mainstream best practice.

Through reporting activities the SSI seeks to enable stakeholders, policy makers and the initiatives themselves to access and interact with each other to improve their effectiveness and benchmark their performance.