September 29,  2020

Marfrig launches tool for monitoring indirect suppliers

Major beef producer Marfrig has just launched the Indirect Supplier Risk Mitigation Map - an initiative for pinpointing the location of cattle breeding and production areas in Brazil in order to determine social and environmental risks.

"In order to produce while preserving the environment, we need to know the location and social context of calf producers," said Paulo Pianez, Marfrig's sustainability and communication director. "And this new tool gives us a kind of radar for doing that."

Using land intelligence focused on deforestation and calf production areas, the platform is the result of a partnership between Marfrig and Agroícone, a consulting firm that develops solutions and technologies for agribusiness chains. By overlaying a set of maps, such as of pasture areas and native forests, critical and priority areas are identified for rolling out initiatives that improve visibility of initial production phases.

The Indirect Supplier Risk Mitigation Map can be used in other biomes to give scale to the complementary programmes envisaged in the Marfrig Verde+ Plan which was launched in July. One example is the Banned Producers Readmission Program, which, in partnership with producers and the government, works to identify initiatives to support the normalisation of areas where banned suppliers operate and facilitate their reincorporation into the formal supply chain.

Monitoring the entire chain of producers in the Amazon is an extremely complex effort, Marfrig said. Estimates are that, for each of the more than 16,000 direct suppliers in the region, there are another ten indirect suppliers. To improve visibility in this chain, Marfrig had signed a partnership with the NGO Amigos da Terra, which leads to the establishment of the Working Group for Indirect Suppliers (GTFI) in Brazil. The company also launched a pilot project to adopt the tool Visipec to further improve monitoring by enabling cross-checking of the data available.

"Developing various actions simultaneously and interconnected on a network will contribute to the participation of indirect suppliers in the formal chain by normalising their properties, gaining access to credit to expand their use of technology and complying with the sustainability criteria established by the company," said Pianez.

- Marfrig