MONHEIM, GERMANY - While it goes without saying that the pandemic has created new hurdles for the fresh produce industry to jump over, we have taken it in stride, and many of our fellow industry members are being recognized for their achievements. Recently, Better Life Farming (BLF), Bayer’s multi-stakeholder global partnership model, received a commendation honor at the fifth edition of the United Nations Economic Cooperation and Integrations (UNECE) International Public Private Partnerships (PPP's) Forum as part of its 2021 Build Back Better Infrastructure Awards.

“Agriculture is the fundamental backbone of rural economies,” said Lino Dias, Vice President of Smallholder Farming for Bayer. “This means with an effective partnership-led business ecosystem to address rural smallholder farmers’ challenges, and by enabling them to thrive, we will be improving not only their livelihoods but also enhancing rural development. This contributes to many of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals aimed at ending hunger and achieving food security.”

Build Back Better was the theme for this year’s UNECE International PPP Forum, according to a press release. The event was held virtually from April 22–26 and featured a competition to find the most resilient projects that involved public-private partnership across the world and put people and communities at the heart of their operations. Projects entering the competition helped communities maintain, rebuild, and move forward within a post pandemic environment.

Overall, UNECE received 66 submissions from 25 countries, each one having to fulfill at least one of the established characteristics, including: stakeholder and community empowerment, poverty and inequalities, women’s empowerment, environmental sustainability, and climate change and resilience.

Bayer’s BLF was one such project, providing holistic and innovative solutions for smallholder farmers in developing economies. The project was selected for its stakeholder engagement supporting the enhancement of livelihoods in rural communities.

Together with farming communities in Indonesia, India, and Bangladesh in addition to more than 20 local partnerships driven by global allies such as Bayer, Netafim, and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), the BLF model provides entrepreneurial opportunities to men and women to own and operate Better Life Farming Centers.

These centers currently reach more than 300,000 smallholders in the aforementioned countries, allowing farmers to purchase seeds, crop protection inputs, and irrigation solutions. Additionally, the centers provide improved access to markets and financial solutions, and the model is backed by local governments which support BLF’s expansion as part of rural development strategies.

Better Life Farming was one of six projects to receive the Build Back Better commendation recognition, and now plans to expand the number of its centers from more than 640 to over 1,000 by the end of 2021.

Congratulations to Bayer on this impactful achievement!

Bayer Better Life Farming