FARMING FOR THE FUTURE
Together with our farmers, we’re pioneering a new approach to growing food sustainably and in harmony with nature so that South Africa’s farms will be able to provide enough food for future generations - without compromising quality or adding to the cost. We call it Farming for the Future.
Farming for the Future is a holistic approach that manages the entire farming process systematically. It all starts with building and maintaining the soil, because, as any farmer will tell you, it takes good soil to produce good food.
Healthy soil is better able to retain water, so it needs less irrigation and water use is reduced. It also needs fewer chemical interventions, which means farmers only use synthetic fertilisers or herbicides when needed.
Fewer chemicals mean less chemical run-off, which, along with less soil erosion and loss of top soil, helps maintain water quality and biodiversity. Farmers also use integrated pest management principles in order to reduce reliance on chemical pesticides and herbicides and encourage biodiversity. All the farmers who grow produce for us are joining us on this journey, and by 2012 all our locally grown fresh produce (other than organically certified produce) will be grown this way. Some key progress during the year.
- 96 farms were audited last year as part of the programme over the last year;
- the WW compliance target for this year based on turnover was 57%, while 68.4% was achieved;
- 23 horticulture suppliers are being introduced to the programme; and
- Recent FFF customer research showed that a high percentage of customers understand the programme fully (54%).