Stewardship

Stewardship is a life cycle approach to product management. It is the responsible and ethical way to manage crop protection products from their discovery and development, to their use and the final disposal of any waste. The overall aim of the stewardship approach is to maximize the benefits, and minimize any risk, from using crop protection products.

CropLife International is committed to promoting effective stewardship in and beyond the field, and believes that the appropriate management and use of our products help underpin sustainable agriculture and safeguard the environment and public health. Stewardship underpins the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management*. CropLife International and its member companies fully support the Code, adherence to which is a condition of membership of the federation. The Code is mainly, but not exclusively, aimed at those countries where good regulation or enforcement regulations are not fully developed or implemented. It is logically also in these areas where the challenges of stewardship, and measuring true impact (i.e. changes in behavior and practices) is greatest.  The industry’s stewardship programs also recognize this challenge. Stewardship of crop protection products can be broken down into seven interrelated elements:

Details of CropLife International’s Stewardship Program, its activities and impacts are in a report available here: A Stocktaking Report – Crop Protection Stewardship Activities of the Plant Science Industry 2005-2011 *Details of the policy of CropLife International and its leading companies may be found in the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management.

Subscribe to Stewardship in Action, our bi-annual stewardship newsletter here: