GLOBAL — Major food corporates Kellogg Co., Bel Group, and Louis Dreyfus Companies, have unveiled individual programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with their supply chains. 

Kellogg is investing US$2 million in a five-year program to reward rice farmers in Lower Mississippi River Basin efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

The program known as Kellogg’s InGrained will see Kellogg partner with GHG measurement firm Regrow, rice producers, Kellogg supplier Kennedy Rice Mill LLC, and agribusiness firm Syngenta.   

“We are proud to announce a new program to help advance regenerative practices as part of our Better Days ESG commitments to support 1 million farmers and workers and reduce scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions across our value chain by 15%, by the end of 2030,” said Steven A. Cahillane, chairman and chief executive officer of Kellogg Co.    

The pilot will provide training opportunities in irrigation management, nutrient management, and soil health to support farmers’ transition to new practices. 

It will then reward farmers with US$20 per ton of GHG abatement their new practices achieve, quantified with Regrow’s secure Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) platform, Kellogg said. 

Kellogg said the pilot also has the potential to reduce irrigation water, an opportunity to conserve the region’s water resources, and reduce farmers’ operating costs.  

Through InGrained, partners estimate a reduction of up to 51,000 tons of GHGs from the North American rice ingredient supply chain over the next five years, Kellogg said, which would be the equivalent of taking more than 10,000 vehicles off the road. 

The InGrained initiative is part of the global Kellogg’s Origins program, which has partnered with more than 440,000 farmers in 29 countries to support climate, social and economic resiliency. 

Bel Group strengthens carbon reduction target 

Meanwhile, French multinational cheese marketer, The Bel Group is strengthening its carbon reduction target to help limit global warming to below +1.5°C. 

The commitment will involve a net reduction of one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions throughout Bel’s entire value chain by 2035 (versus 2017, and taking into account the group’s growth), and the integration of carbon tracking as a tool for steering its activities. 

To achieve its objective, the French cheese market recently launched a new premium of €5/1,000L in France for the Group’s 750 APBO partner farmers, guaranteeing 100% European cow feed from October 2022. 

It has also rolled out a pilot program on cow feed aiming to reduce methane emissions from herds, starting in spring 2022 in France and Slovakia and conducted in collaboration with the feed supplier DSM. 

LDC to eliminate deforestation from supply chain 

Earlier, Netherland-based agri commodities trade giant Luis Dreyfus Co. (LDC)made a commitment to eliminate deforestation from all its supply chains by the end of 2025. 

The company also pledged to work towards curtailing the conversion of native vegetation of high conservation value for agricultural purposes.  

This commitment builds on the company’s global approach to shaping fair and sustainable food and agriculture value chains. 

“Eliminating deforestation and native vegetation conversation associated with agriculture is among the most significant contributions we can make to the world’s 1.5°C Paris Agreement target to limit global warming,” said Michael Gelchie, chief executive officer of LDC. 

“The commitment announced today is, therefore, a key step in LDC’s efforts to contribute to a net-zero economy through a decarbonization roadmap that includes action to drive down emissions within our own operations as well as in our value chains — in this case upstream, at the farm level.” 

Next steps toward implementation will involve risk assessments across supply chains, as a basis to prioritize actions with a focus on supply chains and regions with higher deforestation and conversion risks, with regular reporting on progress. 

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