The Zero Hunger Pledge

The Zero Hunger Pledge is a demonstration of our commitment to help end hunger by 2030.

This pledge was created as part of the UN Food Systems Summit Coalition of Action for Achieving Zero Hunger, one of the emerging multistakeholder coalitions from the UN Food Systems Summit process. We committed to contribute $160 million dollars to achieve Zero Hunger in developing countries between 2022 and 2030, with multiple partners.

The Zero Hunger Pledge aligns governments, agencies, civil society and businesses with the 10 high-impact intervention areas from the Ceres2030 evidence, a unique research project by scientists from Cornell University, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) that provides practical recommendations on how to end hunger by 2030 worldwide – and on a lasting basis.

Overarching principles 

We will comply with applicable national laws and regulations and we will be guided by country priorities for hunger reduction as recorded in their official documents, including their food system pathways and national development priorities and strategies. 

Through our business operations, we commit to uphold internationally accepted principles, including but not limited to the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS-RAI),  the Principles of the UN Global Compact, and the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights.

Coalitions and partnerships 

We warmly welcome the Zero Hunger Coalition, presented as one of the emerging coalitions from the UN FSS process during the Pre-Summit, and will support the Coalition’s efforts to achieve zero hunger. In addition, we urge development partners to provide appropriate technical and financial support to accelerate implementation of the Zero Hunger Coalition, with the goal of facilitating private investment.

We look forward to building long and mutually beneficial relationships with producers, governments, private sector actors, donors, and other players in the countries where we operate and invest.

Accordingly, we are pleased to make this pledge and commit to working with partner organizations to convert this pledge into a commitment.

Lesson-learning and mutual accountability

We commit to reporting on our progress in implementing this pledge, including the resources allocated, and challenges encountered. 

The reports will be based on existing best practice and reporting standards, such as the CDP Protocol and the Global Reporting Initiative’s forthcoming Agriculture and Aquaculture Standard. We support the Food and Agriculture Benchmark of the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) and will collaborate with the WBA to verify that our commitments have been fulfilled. 

We commit to sharing the necessary information allowing WBA to monitor progress of our pledge against the company’s investment area, as part of the broader assessment of the Food and Agriculture Benchmark. We also commit to ensuring that our investments include action on one or more relevant indicators to raise our overall score each year.

Nature of this pledge

This pledge is a non-binding statement of the company’s proposed investments plans and is not intended to create any legally enforceable rights or obligations of the company or its affiliates.

ALIGNING INVESTMENTS

BAYER commits [USD 160 mio] for the following portfolio of Ceres2030-aligned core business investments and in-kind contributions to achieve Zero Hunger in developing countries between 2022 and 2030, with multiple partners:

This pledge is a non-binding statement of the company’s proposed investments plans and is not intended to create any legally enforceable rights or obligations of the company or its affiliates.

Through our Arize Hybrid Rice Seeds Program, we are upscaling sustainable rice cropping systems to 10,000 acres in India, with farm level interventions and innovations. Through this program, we offer a comprehensive system of technological and agronomic advisory and inputs to make direct seeded rice successful at the farmer’s own rate.

Three of our Arize hybrids – known for their higher nutrient and water use efficiency – were launched in India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Through Better Life Farming and the “BLF Academy” in India, Indonesia and  Bangladesh, we trained smallholder farmers on business topics, including safe use of agrochemicals, good agricultural practices, gender awareness and health. Additionally, we invested in two government programs in India to help identify potential female agri-entrepreneurs.

Through the BayG.A.P. program, we trained small and medium-scale farmers in 16 countries to implement sustainable farming standards and principles of good agricultural practices. We also added two new value chain solutions that are being piloted in Ecuador and India, with the aim of improving market access for farmers with local supermarkets, reaching more than 190 farmers. Additionally, we have expanded our training portfolio with a new training on Regenerative Agriculture. We have also held biosecurity trainings on Tropical Race Disease of bananas (TR4) for more than 200 farmers in Vietnam.