Sustainability Assessment of Food and

Agriculture systems - SAFA

What about the standard

Official Mission Statement 

FAO  creates  and  shares  critical  information  about  food,  agriculture  and  natural  resources  in the 
form  of  global  public  goods.  But  this  is  not  a  one-way  flow.  We  play  a  connector  role,  through 
identifying  and  working  with  different  partners  with  established  expertise,  and  facilitating  a 
dialogue  between  those  who  have  the  knowledge  and  those  who  need  it.  By  turning  knowledge 
into  action,  FAO  links  the  field  to  national, regional and global initiatives in a mutually reinforcing 
cycle.  By  joining  forces,  we  facilitate  partnerships  for  food  and nutrition security, agriculture and 
rural  development  between  governments,  development  partners,  civil  society  and  the  private 
sector. 

A  SAFA  is  an  assessment  of  the  sustainability  performance  of  one  or  several  entities  forming 
part of a value chain rooted in agriculture, forestry, fisheries or aquaculture.  
It  can  address  all  entities  from  the  site  of  primary  production  to  that  of  final  sales  to  the 
consumer.  SAFA  can  take  the  form  of  a  self-evaluation  for  the  use  by  primary  producers,  food 
manufacturers and retailers in every part of the world. 
 
Running  a  SAFA  results  in  a  “sustainability  polygone”  that  presents  the  performance  of  each  of 
the  
21  issues  that  are  crucial  to  the  environmental,  social,  economic and governance dimensions of 
sustainability.  This  “traffic  light”  representation  highlights  where  an  activity  performance  is 
unacceptable  (red),  limited  (orange),  moderate  (yellow),  good  (light  green)  or  at  best  (dark 
green).  The  thick  black  line  connects  the  scores  between  the  sustainability  issues,  unlocking 
areas  of  weaknesses.  Thanks  to  this  representation,  an  entity  can  quickly  understand  where  it 
stands  in  the sustainability landscape and where it may need to forge partnerships to improve its 
performance. 
 
SAFA's  themes  and  corresponding  sub-themes  describe  what  sustainability  means  for  those 
issue  areas.  Within  each  sub-theme,  SAFA  has  provided  default  indicators,  which  are  mapped 
according  to  their  criteria here in the ITC map. However in addition to these default indicators, an 
enterprise  or  group  of  enterprises  may  develop  additional  indicators  in  order  to  adapt  SAFA  to 
their  region,  sector  or  value  chain.  Default  indicators  may  not  be  deleted  if  relevant,  but  it  is 
encouraged  that  users  add  additional  indicators  to  make  the  assessment  more  appropriate and 
thorough. 
Facts and Figures 
Sustainable  development  has  numerous  definitions  and  its  ecological,  economic  and  social 
principles  received  universal  agreement  at  the  1992  Earth  Summit.  One  of  the  summit’s  major 
outcomes,  Agenda 21, includes a whole chapter (Chapter 14) on sustainable agriculture and rural 
development.  Today,  106  countries  have  National  Sustainable  Development  Strategies  and  at 
least  120  voluntary  sustainability  standards  are  being  implemented  by  the  food  and  agriculture 
industry.  However,  developing  and  implementing  an  integrated  approach  to  analysing  different 
sustainability  dimensions  as  a  coherent  whole  and  integrating  them  in development or business 
strategies remains a major challenge.  
With  a  view  to  offer  a  fair  playing  field,  FAO  built  on  existing  efforts  and  developed  a  universal 
framework  for  Sustainability  Assessment  of  Food  and Agriculture systems (SAFA). After 5 years 
of  participatory  development, SAFA has been presented to FAO member countries on 18 October 
2013.

Environment

This indicator refers to all the practices that aim to improve the physical, chemical and
biological properties of the soils used by a company. Depending on the soil conditions and
the local and natural climatic, terrain and geological characteristics

This indicator refers to the protection, in-situ conservation and rehabilitation of the genetic
diversity of domesticated plant and animal.
Ecosystem Enhancing Practices: Dark Green (best practices): Land-cover and land use change
to more structurally complex and species-diverse systems, such as agroforestry.
Social

adequate rest from work, overtime that is voluntary, and educational opportunity for themselves
and their immediate families. In addition, quality of life means that they have the time to produce
or procure and prepare healthy meals for themselves and their families that include fresh
produce and a culturally appropriate

in summary The company can effectively engage with stakeholders. The excellent performance
in this indicator will be evidenced through personalized engagement activities for the type of
stakeholder, resulting in a comprehensive and mutually satisfactory engagement that is
maintained over time.
Management

capacity of soils that are important aspects for their health and productivity. It has a strong
influence on the volatilization of gaseous compounds in the soil (including GHG emissions such
as nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide), water balance (also at regional level), soil packing and root
penetration, absorption of nutrients from the soil by plants and good soil aeration.
The physical soil properties, such as the soil texture, porosity and structure, reveal the grade of
nutrient and water holding capacity of the soils which are important aspects for its health and
productivity
Quality
Ethics

We observe below that the first is from Quality and Ethics charts that we have a participation
of 120%, we that the principles and anti-corruption and bribery criteria are 80% and
compliance with national, religious and international legislation is 40%.

How does the standard operate - Jessica

BRC Global Standard for Food Safety
What about the standard

Official Mission Statement

BRC developed and introduced the BRC Food Technical Standard to be used to evaluate
manufacturers of retailers own brand food products. It is designed to assist retailers and brand
owners produce food products of consistent safety and quality and assist with their 'due
diligence' defence, should they be subject to a prosecution by the enforcement authorities.

Key Features
The BRC Global Standard for Food Safety can be applied to any food processing or packing
operation where open food is handled, processed or packed. This may range from primary
products such as fresh produce pack houses and slaughter houses through to processed foods,
canneries and high risk ready to eat products. In some sectors such as fresh produce, guideline
documents are available to assist with interpretation.
The standard is divided into 7 chapters:
1. Senior Management Commitment and Continual Improvement – For any food safety system to
be effective it is essential that the factory senior management are fully committed to its
application and continued development.
2. The Food Safety Plan (HACCP) – The basis for the Food Safety System is an effective
HACCP programme based on the requirements of the internationally recognised Codex
Alimentarius system
3. Food Safety and Quality Management System - This sets out requirements for the
management of food safety and quality, building upon the principles of ISO 9000. This includes
requirements for product specifications, supplier approval, traceability, and the management of
incidents and product recalls.
4. Site Standards – These define expectations for the processing environment including the
layout and maintenance of the buildings and equipment, cleaning, pest control and waste
management. This includes a specific section on managing foreign body controls.
5. Product Control – This includes requirements at the product design and development stage,
Allergen management and the expectations of Laboratories and product testing.
6. Process Control – This covers the establishment and maintenance of safe process controls,
weight/volume control and equipment calibration.
7. Personnel – This defines requirements for the training of staff and expectations on protective
clothing and personnel hygiene.

Facts and Figures

BRC Global Standards is a leading safety and quality certification program, used by over 25,000
certificated suppliers in over 130 countries, with certification issued through a worldwide network
of accredited Certification Bodies.1700 auditors. 65 publications.
What are the standards requirements (Environment, Social and
Management)
Environment
Social
Management

What are the standards requirements (Quality and Ethics)

Quality
Ethics

How does the standard operate

Compare side by side
*What are the standards requirements - Nathaly

*How does the standard operate - Nathaly

The processes criteria are based on elements which are drawn from the ISEAL Credibility 
Principles. The principles resulted from a year-long consultation with contributions from more 
than 400 organisations from five continents. They represent the characteristics of standards and 
certification schemes that are most likely to achieve positive social, environmental or economic 
impacts, while decreasing negative impacts.