Members projects

In a transformative partnership, The Coca-Cola Company and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have committed to help conserve fresh water and promote socio-economic development in critical watershed regions. Among these regions is the watershed that drains from Central America into the Mesoamerican Reef. Coca-Cola and the WWF have affirmed the goal of preserving this ecosystem through the advancement of sustainable agriculture practices in the Central American region, including the promotion of environmental stewardship and ensuring workplace rights.

Among agricultural products, sustainability in the sugarcane supply chain (farm, mill, and refining processes) is a key priority for The Coca-Cola Company and a focal point of the WWF/Coca-Cola partnership. Coca-Cola and WWF have identified Bonsucro certification as a means of ensuring this sustainability, and believe the standard will provide a globally recognized, third-party certification for sustainably produced sugarcane. Developed through an independent, multi-stakeholder initiative, the Bonsucro certification provides a mechanism for achieving sustainable production from sugarcane in respect of economic, social and environmental dimensions. Water quality is included among these dimensions, and is of particular importance as agrochemical runoff from sugarcane fields is impacting water flowing into the Mesoamerican reef.

Coca-Cola is supporting activities to prepare mills for Bonsurco certification throughout Central America. In Belize and Honduras, the Coca-Cola/WWF partnership has collaborated with suppliers to initiate activities that assist sugar mills to understand and work towards certification. In El Salvador and Guatemala, the USAID/Coca-Cola Water and Development Alliance (WADA) is supporting Cleaner Production Center audits of three sugar refineries and providing assistance in preparing mills for Bonsucro certification. An evaluation of these Central American mills, representing production of over one million tons of raw sugar, was conducted to establish a baseline and identify alignment, gaps, and opportunities that could inform the mills' position with respect to the standard. Following the evaluation, gaps and opportunities were identified and meetings with mills were conducted to discuss evaluations and develop specific action plans. The partnerships then worked with the mills to develop mutually agreed upon goals and objectives, identify specific actions to help meet these goals, and ultimately create a work plan to obtain Bonsucro certification.

In addition to refineries, the implementing partners are also supporting research and pilot approaches to improve water sustainability within the sugar cultivation process. The Coca-Cola/WWF partnership has worked with growers to increase the efficiency of agrochemical applications, reduce the toxicity of pesticides applied to fields, and reduce the burning of crops in order to decrease the impact on freshwater quality. In one particularly innovative project, Coca-Cola and WWF have partnered in the development of a lab in Honduras to produce a biocontrol alternative for spittlebugs (Aeneolamia postica), a major agricultural pest for sugarcane. Using the principles of applied Integrated Pest Management (IPM), this work could reduce pesticide application by as much as 30% while increasing profitability and productivity for farmers. The results are expected to reduce nutrient and pesticides application in the pilot area, leading to increased agricultural efficiencies in Coca-Cola‘s supply chain and reduced agrochemical runoff to local freshwater and reef systems. In September 2010, the lab was completed with promising expectations; the lab is expected to produce enough biocontrol to treat 1,500 ha of sugarcane in the first year, expanding to 6,500 ha in year 3. In the near future, production will begin for other biological control agents as well, with the potential to further reduce the use of agrochemicals. The partnership is also working to improve the efficiency of fertilizer application on the sugarcane farm supplying the mill, so as to further improve freshwater quality.

With mills preparing for certification and farmers improving their environmental practices, this initiative will greatly contribute towards the preservation of the Mesoamerican Reef system and the wellbeing of surrounding communities. Moreover, as Coca-Cola and WWF support mills to meet Bonsucro certification standards, sugarcane producers will continue to benefit, with global implications of aligning the industry towards responsible and sustainable environmental stewardship.