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United States Agency for International Development and the Rainforest Alliance to Bring Sustainable Forest and Farm Products to MarketMay 20, 2004 New York, NY -- The New York-based Rainforest Alliance announced today its partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the establishment of the Certified Sustainable Products Alliance, a major, three-year effort to significantly promote and increase the sale of sustainably produced certified timber, banana and coffee from Central America and Mexico. By strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of agriculture and timber operations, this partnership will bring new investment and trade to the region while supporting practices that benefit the environment as well as protect the rights and resources of workers and local communities. Funded with an $8.6 million grant from USAID, the Certified Sustainable Products Alliance supports certification and links certified products with markets. The goal of the partnership is to transform the way that participating companies source products, thus establishing alternative ways of doing business that the companies can replicate after the completion of this effort. The Certified Sustainable Products Alliance, developed and funded as part of the USAID Global Development Alliance initiative, is expected to become a showcase development effort in Latin America and beyond. The Alliance will achieve results on several critical business, social and environmental fronts including responsible business practice, improved wages and conditions for workers employed in plantation and rural sectors, enhanced participation and income for farmer associations and reduced environmental degradation in production systems. As Glenn Anders, USAID's mission director for Guatemala and Central American Programs states, "By linking responsible buyers for certified products with responsible suppliers in these global markets, the Alliance constructs and seals a circuit in which all players -- producers, purchasers, distributors and consumers -- are winners." During the three-year activity period, over 300,000 acres of forest and farmland are expected to be certified as sustainably managed. Over four million board feet of certified timber, 90 million boxes of certified bananas and 30,000 metric tons of sustainable coffee are expected to be sold through valuable sourcing contracts provided to local operations. Partners include NGOs and producers as well as international manufacturers and retailers such as Gibson Musical Instruments, Kraft Foods, Millstone and Chiquita Brands International. These partners have committed to increasing the amount of certified sustainable products into the supply stream, and in certain cases, to providing technical assistance to farms. "By increasing the supply of certified products, by promoting on-the-ground conservation and by improving conditions for workers and communities that neighbor farms and forestry operations, communities and cooperatives involved in the Certified Sustainable Products Alliance will see an increase in income that will provide them with an added incentive to practice sustainable agriculture and forestry," notes Rainforest Alliance executive director Tensie Whelan. Through its forestry and agricultural certification programs, the Rainforest Alliance brings together industry, environmentalists, scientists, local communities, workers and governments into mutually beneficial arrangements that foster sustainable production methods that benefit both Latin America's economy and environment. The Certified Sustainable Products Alliance project is focusing on areas of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, especially on the outskirts of parks, in priority watersheds and as part of biological corridors. The Rainforest Alliance, an international conservation organization, is a leader in developing best management practices for sustainable land use and offers third-party certification and ecolabeling services to forests and farms that are managed in ways that reduce environmental impacts and increase social benefits. As the first organization in the world to utilize market forces to conserve tropical forests, launching a sustainable forestry division in 1989 and a sustainable agriculture division in 1991, the Rainforest Alliance pioneered a worldwide certification movement. Over 30 million acres are now managed according to the highest standards through the Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program. The Rainforest Alliance has recruited over 1,000 companies in this effort and improved the quality of life of some tens of thousands workers and their families. The Rainforest Alliance's sustainable agriculture certification program has certified almost 1,000 farms and has benefited over 95,000 farm families in the tropics. United States Agency for International Development Since its establishment as an independent federal agency by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been helping developing countries to fight hunger, poverty and disease and provide opportunities for their peoples. The U.S. foreign assistance programs have a long and distinguished record of accomplishments achieved with one half of one percent of the federal budget. Over more than 40 years, USAID programs have made significant contributions to promote democratic governance, driving economic growth, mitigating and managing conflict, and providing humanitarian aid in over 200 countries worldwide. More than ever, US foreign policy toward the developing world plays a vital role in the global balance between conflict and peace. Our national security challenges are increasingly complex and the role of development increasingly recognized as pivotal. The Global Development Alliance (GDA) is USAID's business model for the 21st century. In the words of Secretary Powell (July 12, 2002), USAID had "established the Global Development Alliance to combine the assets of government, business and civil society to work in partnership on implementing sustainable development programs." USAID Administrator Andrew S. Natsios on July 24, 2002 said: "We will now make investments in tandem with NGOs and PVOs, with the private sector, and with foundations. USAID has not done this on a very large scale in the past, and that's what we have begun to do now." The USAID/G-CAP (Guatemala and Central American Programs) Mission is located in Guatemala and manages programs in the six Central America region countries. USAID/G-CAP will manage the grant to Rainforest Alliance to implement the new Certified Sustainable Products Alliance.
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