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Walmart vows to back 'sustainable agriculture'

Walmart has vowed to make changes to its global sourcing strategy that will see it buy more sustainably-sourced products from small and mid-sized farmers.

"More than 1 billion people around the world rely on farming and hundreds of millions of them live on less than $2 a day," said Mike Duke, Walmart president and CEO.

"Globally, with a booming population, food production must increase roughly 70% to feed 9 billion people in 2050."

Duke added that by backing "sustainable agriculture", Walmart can help farmers, communities and customers: "Our efforts will help increase farmer incomes, lead to more efficient use of pesticides, fertilizer and water, and provide fresher produce for our customers."

Walmart's sustainable agriculture strategy aims to support farmers and their communities by selling $1bn in food sourced from 1 million small and medium farmers. It will also offer training to 1 million farmers and farm workers in such areas as crop selection and sustainable farming practices --the company expects half of those trained to be women. It also estimated that its new policy will boost the income of the small and medium farmers it sources from by 10 to 15%.

In terms of sustainability the retail giant said it will be accelerating the agricultural focus of the Sustainability Index, beginning with a Sustainable Produce Assessment for top producers in its Global Food Sourcing network in 2011. It will also spend more than $1bn in its global fresh supply chain in the next five years.

Additionally Walmart vowed to cut food waste in its emerging market stores and clubs by 15% and by 10% in stores and clubs in its other markets by the end of 2015.