Mindanao Banana Project (Philippines)
The IFC Advisory Services Philippines has implemented a pilot project on sustainable agriculture to improve and facilitate the integration of smallholder banana growers (or ‘outgrowers’) into a high value agribusiness chain in Davao City and Davao del Norte. The aim of the project was to help these outgrowers comply with Rainforest Alliance (RA) certification standards and acquire business management skills to enable them to access the premium Japan market. Three outgrower farms located in Calinan, Davao and in Asuncion, Davao Del Norte successfully gained RA certification during the pilot phase of the project.
As part of its activities the project has developed a framework to measure sustainability impacts on banana farms. To complement the earlier study on the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits of RA certification, the objective was to develop guidelines to measure the environmental, social and economic benefits of RA certification in outgrower banana farms that are mostly founded on the sustainability measurements of the Committee on Sustainability Assessment ( COSA ). The final report is available.
International Finance Corporation. Proposed Guideline on Sustainable Measurements on Economic, Environmental, and Social Benefits of Banana Outgrower Farms. December 2010. (link to download the smartlessons report attached below)
Sowing the Seeds of Sustainability: A Case Project with Unifrutti, IFC, and Smallholder Banana Farmers in the Philippines