Manufacturing
reforestation is helping protect the Rejoso watershed. On the far side of the Pacific, meanwhile, Danone’s operations in Mexico have swapped traditional flood- based irrigation for drip equipment, along the way drastically cutting evaporation and run-off. The French giant isn’t alone here. Wherever you look, Danone’s agrifood competitors are moving in a similar direction, with everyone from Arla to Bayer eager to flex their sustainable muscles. But focusing on purely internal operations – or even external suppliers – simply isn’t enough here. As Buddhists understand, water is by definition a shared resource, and the failure of a single farmer to take their water responsibilities seriously can quickly spark problems downstream. The solution? For Sym, it can be characterised by a single phrase: water stewardship. “For the agrifood sector,” he explains, “stewardship of water means thinking beyond the fence line and working with others to understand and address the broader, longer-term impacts of their water use.” The AWS Standard 2.0 is an excellent example of this approach. A verifiable standard for sustainable water use, it offers farmers, factories and other agrifood players what Sym calls a collective “plan-do-act framework” of action, even as independent auditors verify compliance. The point, stresses the A4WS boss, is to improve water management right across a catchment area, through a mix of what he calls “dialogue and open communication.” Once again, Danone offers a vivid idea of what this collaborative approach looks like on the ground. As far back as 1992, it co-founded a special association for the protection of the Evian watershed, partnering with 13 local municipalities to do so. In Indonesia, locals are encouraged to take a greater role in governing community water supplies, while Danone is also running educational schemes with farmers and schools. And as the company’s investment in drip irrigation
implies, new technology can be a real boon here too. Elsewhere, Zein describes the power of so-called ‘decision support systems’ (DSS), computerised platforms that help Danone craft irrigation schedules.
Pour one out
What can be in no doubt is the impact of these varied schemes. At Danone, after all, Zein notes that the firm reused a billion litres of factory water in 2023 alone, with tree plantations (India), municipal football fields (Mexico) and street cleaners (China) all making use of repurposed H2
O. That’s shadowed
by watershed preservation: some 45% of the water intake in vulnerable areas worked by Danone is now covered by a stewardship programme, with aims to reach 100% by 2030. R&D is proving revolutionary too. In Morocco, for instance, Danone is running a scheme to feed dairy cows on plants that require less water, with similar projects also underway in Mexico and California. Once again, Zein and his team are far from unique here: Cargill has committed to restoring 600 billion litres of water by the end of the decade, with BASF aspiring to something similar. And with climactic pressures as strong as ever, it makes sense that both Zein and Sym should agree similar work will continue in future. “As awareness grows of the relationship between water and climate change and the ever-escalating series of water risks, water stewardship is becoming more prominent as a pathway towards climate resilience and mitigation,” is how the A4WS executive puts it, noting that his organisation is aiming to revise the AWS Standard 2.0 for future challenges. Zein sees the environmental case for water stewardship as indistinguishable from Danone’s broader business. “For a food company like Danone, whose ingredients come from nature, water management is a top priority.” It’s a statement those ancient Hapi worshippers would surely appreciate.
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