This project with Sainsbury’s aims to ensure that their farmers have the tools to measure and manage habitat creation and food production to help them become a nature positive retailer.
Goals of the Partnership
Our partnership with Sainsbury’s revolves around several key objectives aimed at empowering suppliers and enhancing nature within the supply chain:
- Empowering Sainsbury’s Suppliers: By integrating data between Land App and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, we aim to provide suppliers with the necessary tools to make informed decisions about biodiversity and habitat enhancements.
- Monitoring and Tracking: We provide Sainsbury’s with tools to monitor and track positive influences on biodiversity within their supply chains, facilitating ongoing improvements.
- Delivering Biodiversity Enhancement: Through digital suggestions and guidance, we assist suppliers in creating and reconnecting habitats to enhance biodiversity.
Work towards Sainsbury’s Nature Positive commitment
Our collaboration seamlessly aligns with Sainsbury’s commitment to becoming a Nature Positive retailer in several ways:
- Sainsbury’s wants to help farmers and suppliers to measure their impact and dependencies on biodiversity and identify areas to work collaboratively to promote nature.
- Risk Identification and Support: Sainsbury’s can identify areas of supply chain risk and support farmers in adopting practices that improve climate resilience.
- The data collected can inform Sainsbury’s about their indirect impact on biodiversity, and work closer with their supply chain to increase nature on farms and improve the overall resilience to climate change.
Sustainability and Landscape Scale Conservation
A Framework for Sustainable Farming: We provide a framework for farms to align their practices with conservation and sustainability goals, attracting funding and contributing to broader environmental objectives.
Sector-wide Progress: By pulling levers that advance the entire sector, such as buffering water courses or reducing farming’s impact on sensitive habitats, we contribute to broader conservation and sustainability goals.
Plans for the Future
Looking ahead, we’re set to work more closely with Sainsbury’s to improve the farmed landscape of their supply chain as much as possible:
- Rollout Across Supply Chains: We plan to continue extending our initiatives for lamb, beef, poultry, fresh produce, and dairy supply chains.
- Scalability and Accessibility: Our model is designed to be scalable, ensuring equal access for all farmers, regardless of their size or resources.
Feedback from participating stakeholders speaks volumes. Leah Mathias-Collins, from the supplier Vitacress, said: “This framework with Sainsbury’s and Land App has made it very easy for us to increase the coverage of pollinator habitats and improve connectivity/water quality for habitats benefiting local water vole populations.”
As we move forward into the second year of our partnership, we remain committed to driving positive change within the agricultural sector, fostering a sustainable future where nature thrives alongside food production. Together with Sainsbury’s, we’re not just envisioning a better future; we’re actively building it, one farm at a time.
