Conference 2022 Panel Recap - "Setting the Rules: The Risks and Benefits of Private Governance in Supply Chains"

Photo by Arno Senoner on Unsplash.

Have you heard of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), including the objectives to end hunger, achieve food security, and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030? Has this goal seemed loftier than ever considering recent events like the Covid-19 pandemic and the continuing war in Ukraine?

If you answered yes, you probably share the mindset I had before attending the CAFLP’s panel, Setting the Rules: The Risks and Benefits of Private Governance in Supply Chains. Nevertheless, during this panel, Jeanette Tramhel (Organization of American States) and Sarah Berger Richardson (Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa) aptly demonstrated how international and domestic private-sector instruments can help achieve these public international law goals.

Recognizing that one-third of all food produced is lost or wasted, Jeanette Tramhel examined private international law instruments that can keep supply chains open in the short term and make food systems more sustainable in the long term. Namely, Tramhel proposed contract farming as such a solution. Contract farming is a system whereby the producer and buyer enter a contract before the start of the production season with specifications on the quality and price of the product. It is an increasing practice that enables producers to gain access to international markets, technical assistance, and more stable incomes. At the same time, buyers see a more consistent supply and quality of product with a lessening need to buy land. Although there are risks associated with contract farming, including producers’ dependency on buyers, Tramhel argued it is an opportunity to introduce more sustainable farming practices and lower pricing for consumers, thereby starting to act on the SDGs.

Turning the conversation to Canada, Sarah Berger Richardson examined the problem of barn fires. Most common in Ontario and Quebec, barn fires are caused by the 1950s/60s construction of many farm buildings as well as electrical and mechanical failures. Recognizing that major news outlets frequently do not report barn fires, Berger Richardson stressed that barn fires occurred every 2.4 days in Ontario in 2016 and led to the death of 360,000 farm animals in Quebec between 2015 and 2020. Barn fires have a substantial impact on food systems, entailing not only high financial costs but also issues of animal welfare and human health.

After emphasising their significance, Berger Richardson commented on the unfortunate lack of binding regulatory requirements on barn fires in Canada and proposed an alternate private-sector solution; insurance. Berger Richardson argued that insurance programs can offer lower premiums if extra fire safety precautions are taken, motivating farmers to reduce the risk of barn fires, thereby working towards international goals such as food security. Berger Richardson concluded by mentioning the limits of this private sector approach, including the fact that insurance can diminish incentives to exercise care.

Altogether, in this CAFLP panel, Tramhel and Berger Richardson raised awareness of the greater role the private sector can play in meeting goals set by public international law. For my part, ending hunger, achieving food security, and promoting sustainable agriculture by 2030 no longer seem so unattainable.