Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Footprint Analysis
The term footprint analysis is not dissimilar to LCA. It is widely used term and
methodology in relation to CO
2
production and water use, e.g. carbon footprint or
water footprint. An example of the method used is described in The Water Footprint
Assessment Manual: Setting the Global Standard (Hoekstra
2011
). This manual sets
out the scientific basis for calculating how much freshwater is used in the produc-
tion of a crop. This allows the user to understand how much water can be used and
where savings can be made.
Strategies to Minimise Horticulture's Impact on the Environment
The strategies developed to manage the potential environmental threat from hor-
ticultural production and marketing have been determined by two major forces,
legislation and private voluntary standards as described below.
Legislation
National and international legislation to protect the environment is now well devel-
oped and integral part of the management of horticultural enterprises. To illustrate
this positive trend the number of European Union (EU) Directives that relate to the
environment and crop production are listed in Table
15.2
.
Private Voluntary Standards
Private Voluntary Standards (PVS) are set by the food-producing industry and re-
tailers. These standards require growers to comply with Good Agricultural Practice
(G.A.P.), including environmental protection that is independently certified. Exam-
ples can be found on GLOBALGAP's web site (
www.globalgap.org)
. Interestingly,
the influence of PVS on how horticultural production impacts on the environment
have probably had a greater effect than any legislation. There are now nearly 400
private standards governing the food industry in operation in Europe with the com-
plication and financial cost of compliance is of major concern to the horticultural
industry (Borot de Battislini et al.
2009
). Any single large scale grower, for example
in Kenya, may have to comply with over ten different PVS including GLOBAL-
GAP, Fair Trade, Linking the Environment and Farming (LEAF), Rainforest Alli-
ance, Ethical Trade Initiative, Utz Certified, various organic standards, as well as
the numerous individual food retailer standards such as Nature's Choice, and Field
to Fork when it comes to horticultural food processing.
