What’s Ferdoñana?

Ferdoñana, an initiative of SAI Platform, is a multi-year collaborative project aimed at achieving a sustainable consumption of water through a more efficient irrigation applied to the maximum possible area of berries farms in Doñana. It’ll improve in some cases the practices to get an optimized use of water.

Ferdoñana will make a significant contribution towards the sustainability of the volumes of water extracted for the cultivation of berries, and it looks for the following results:

  • An increase in the availability of water in the area.
  • Reduced pollution from fertilizer leaching.
  • An increase in the profitability of farms and the competitiveness of the local economy.
  • A reduction of the risk related to the water situation in Doñana.
  • Increased consumer awareness of farmers’ efforts to achieve efficient water use.

Who promotes Ferdoñana?

The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform is the primary global food & drink value chain initiative for sustainable agriculture.

Food companies and retailers are the largest buyers of agricultural raw materials. To ensure a constant, growing and secure supply of these agricultural raw materials, they must be grown in a sustainable manner. In 2002, Nestlé, Unilever and Danone created the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform, a non-profit organization to facilitate the precompetitive exchange of knowledge and best practices to support the development and implementation of sustainable agricultural practices.

SAI Platform today counts over 100 members, which actively share the same view on sustainable agriculture seen as “the efficient production of safe, high quality agricultural products, in a way that protects and improves the natural environment, the social and economic conditions of farmers, their employees and local communities, and safeguards the health and welfare of all farmed species”

SAI Platform develops (or co-develops) tools and guidance to support global and local sustainable sourcing and agriculture practices. For example, Ferdoñana project.

If you want to know more about Ferdoñana, you can download the project presentation here.