Lidl has announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with CIRAD and AZ France (Gruppo Orsero) for a pilot banana farm project in Colombia.
Goal of the partnership
- Eliminating the use of unregistered pesticides in Europe, in anticipation of European mirror clauses.
- Reducing pesticide use on banana plantations more generally.
- Supporting partner producers to maintain optimum fruit quality.
©Lidl
“This partnership is part of the sustainable banana roadmap that Lidl has co-constructed with its suppliers and certain stakeholders. Being rolled out since 2021, it includes a 50% reduction in the use of pesticides in our supply chains by 2030,” according to Lidl.
“After an initial diagnosis with CIRAD, we shared a common desire with CIRAD, our supplier AZ France and Tecbaco, one of its Colombian producers, to develop more virtuous agricultural practices in terms of pesticide use. With this 96-hectare pilot farm, we have the ambition and capacity to deploy our objectives more widely over more than 8,700 hectares,” explains Marianne Ait Said, RSE expert for fruit and vegetable channels at Lidl.
For more information:
lidl.fr
cirad.fr
azfrance.fr