When Mars Inc. recently concluded a five-year effort to map and evaluate its supply chain, the company realized its very business would be in jeopardy if a few things didn’t change.

Without improving supply chains, Mars won’t be a resilient company, won’t attract the best workers, and in some supply chains, they won’t have enough of the crops they need, the company concluded. For years, Mars had worked to improve sustainability efforts in factories. But it hadn’t worked as much with the 1 million smallholder farmers at the far tail of its supply chain — and they required attention.

“We learned if we don’t take action and try to catalyze change, then we’re facing a challenge in having a business at all,” said Marika McCauley Sine, the company’s human rights director.

Read the source article at Devex International Development