Waitrose is set to invest £1 million over the next few years to help suppliers in Africa and South America, as farms are increasingly being impacted by climate change.
The Waitrose Foundation has established a new ‘Climate Resilience Programme’ which will provide guidance and tools on how to mitigate the effects of global warming.
To help farms in countries such as Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Senegal and Costa Rica become more green and lower production costs, the upmarket retailer’s scheme will also help suppliers to implement sustainable farming techniques and renewable energy.
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“It’s an inconvenient truth but the worst impacts of climate change are being felt in countries not responsible for driving it,” John Lewis Partnership director of sustainability and ethics, Marija Rompani told The Grocer.
According to analysis by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, just 3% of public climate finance currently goes towards improving food systems.
Rompani added that “increasing temperatures, shifting weather patterns and more extreme climates are currently threatening food and water security and socioeconomic development in countries we source from, and we need to take more responsibility and greater action.
“This is at the heart of why we’ve established our Climate Resilience Programme – to help support our Waitrose Foundation farmers more thoroughly as they respond to the impacts of climate change.”
