In focus: key sustainability sectors
A closer look at key agricultural commodities.
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Unless otherwise stated, sector-specific data show the global minimum. For methodological reasons, we refer to minimum possible values. We assume that multiple sustainability standards certify all areas. The minimum corresponds to the standard with the largest compliant area operating within a given sector. Crop areas, shares and growth rates might thus be considerably higher.
FOR A SPOTLIGHT ON EACH, CLICK BELOW:
RANKING: CERTIFIED LAND BY AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY
2019:
19.7 million+ hectares certified This represents at least 7.9% of the global area of eight agricultural commodities
RANKING AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES BY LARGEST CERTIFIED AREA
Cotton
Oil palm
Cocoa
Sugarcane
Coffee
Soybeans
Tea
Bananas
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CERTIFIED AREA: HOW WE GOT THERE
2015-2019:
The minimum certified area for agricultural commodities expanded by about one third, with sugarcane growing the most to more than double in size.
AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES BY LARGEST CERTIFIED AREA FOUR-YEAR GROWTH
Sugarcane
Cotton
Cocoa
Tea
Bananas
Oil palm
Coffee (certified area fell)
Soybeans (certified area fell)
2015-2016
The minimum certified area of most commodities stagnated or changed by less than 10%, expanding by just 1.1% overall.
2016-2017
Most growth rates were markedly higher (overall 17.9%).
2017-2018
Growth rates flattened again, with negative growth rate recorded for coffee.
2018-2019
Growth further flattened, with an overall rate of 1.8%. While the minimum area of cotton and sugarcane grew by more than 10%, the minimum area of coffee, cocoa, and soybeans dropped by 18.5%, 12.7%, and 6%, respectively.
Growth of minimum area certified by agricultural commodity, 2008-2019
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CERTIFIED PRODUCTION
The largest global shares of certified production were for cocoa, tea and coffee, with the lowest recorded for bananas and soybeans. No production data is available for cotton, oil palm and sugarcane, due to missing data.
2015-2019
Bananas grew the most, followed by cocoa and tea, with soybeans increasing by only 6%. Coffee fell by 29.4%.
2018-2019
Tea increased the most, followed by bananas. Coffee, cocoa and soybeans fell.
2015-2019
Although the global shares of certified production were similar to those in certified areas (except for tea), this was not the case for growth rates, particularly for soybeans and bananas. This may be due to inconsistent reporting in some cases.
Soybeans: four-year production growth, +6%; four-year area growth -27.9%.
Bananas: four-year production growth, 55.1%; four-year area growth 21.5%.
Estimated minimum production volume by agricultural commodity, 2019
* Production volume of bananas is missing for GlobalG.A.P.
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