Chile Conscious Origin 2023 balance: Driving sustainability in the Chilean agri-food sector

Chile Conscious Origin, a program from the Ministry of Agriculture closes a year marked by its commitment to the sector’s sustainability. The Agency for Sustainability and Climate Change and representatives from Chileprunes, ChileCarne, and the Dairy Consortium provided a detailed review of the progress made.

Chile Conscious Origin, a program led by the Office of Agricultural Research and Policy (ODEPA) from the Ministry of Agriculture had a successful year promoting the implementation of best practices in the agri-food sector and consolidating sustainability as a differentiation attribute in Chile’s food production. The initiative has become a beacon of hope in a world that is urgently seeking for solutions to the environmental and social challenges.

The Agency for Sustainability and Climate Change (ASCC), which leads the implementation of clean production agreements (APLs, in Spanish) is one of the program’s main supporters. Its Executive Director, Ximena Ruz, talked about the overall impact of the program: “We have a positive opinion; the program not only promotes sustainability, but also strengthens trust in the participating producers, creating an environment of more credibility, transparency, and commitment to these practices.”

The ASCC is working on indicators for the implementation of the practices set by the standard to facilitate business and public decision-making. They also aim at ensuring real collaboration between the various sectors and stakeholders involved in the program by implementing a FOCAL program (to promote quality) supported by CORFO, the Chilean Economic Development Agency.

The agro-industrial sectors involved in Chile Conscious Origin also talked about their main achievements and challenges in 2023. ChileCarne —the association that represents the ChilePork brand that promotes Chilean pork internationally—, represented by its Sustainability Manager, Daniela Álvarez, highlighted the progress made in the implementation of sustainability standards for pork and poultry production. Measuring greenhouse gas emissions, water and energy management, and other specific measures are driving improvements in the Chilean white meat sector. Additionally, numerous facilities are going through the certification process, with plans to scale it up in 2024.

The Dairy Consortium’s Sustainability Coordinator, Natalie Jones, celebrated the certification of 100 dairy farms and the training of auditors certified in the new standard. “We trained nearly 40 advisors, 30 of which work with peasant family farming to continue supporting producers in the implementation and certification process. Our vision is working on the sector’s sustainability from the field to the glass or plate, with a high-grade sustainable product, which can be verified by consumers and the community with specific information. This is a big step that provides certainty in our production process,” Jones explained.

In turn, Chileprunes’ Executive Director, Pedro Acuña highlighted the development of two sustainability standards, one for primary production at the orchard and another one for agro-industrial adaptation at the plant. “This achievement helped us identify the specifics of the sector to find the best options to comply with the proposed standards,” he noted.

But the path towards sustainability has not been without challenges. For ChileCarne, one of the main challenges is the implementation of the standard by small-sized pork and poultry producers, who face difficulties due to the high costs and low gains. Additionally, new Chilean regulations on odor emissions put the continuity of their operations at risk.

Natalie Jones pointed out that for the Dairy Consortium, “the main challenge is to increase the number of producers certified with the standard. This is why next year we will focus on growing this number by creating a portfolio of public and private benefits, designing and implementing an outreach campaign, promoting the certification of the industrial process, and improving management processes.”