Mission Statements as Coalition Signals

“saw that your mission statement is ‘Growing a better world together’. I recently did a presentation to the bank’s executive board where I looked at the mission statements of the ABCD+ group. They all had similar statements; we’re aligned. Growing stands for sustainable, healthy growth, development and progress. A better world goes beyond our clients, employees and members and includes our communities and associations. Together is important because, as a cooperative bank, we believe in the power of coalitions. Our strength lies in connecting people and knowledge. It’s much more than an empty slogan! This mission is part of our Banking for Food (B4F) strategy. It entails the meaningful role we want to play in food transition and how we can help feed the nine billion people that will be on this planet in 2050, while respecting planetary boundaries.”

“In terms of sustainable financing, which commodity presents the greatest challenges? If you look at my area of responsibility, most challenges are in cocoa and coffee, simply because of their level of complexity and the need to improve the livelihood for smallholders. We spend a lot of time on those two commodities, even though they’re much smaller in terms of volume than grains and oilseeds. Our challenge is to stop deforestation and prevent climate change, while feeding the world: how can those two objectives coexist? We have to embed sustainability in the business and our daily thinking. Our ‘sustainable toolkit’ includes services and financing from Rabo Foundation/Rural Fund, as well as the fund we established with the United Nations called Agri3 to combat deforestation and enhance the livelihood of smallholder farmers.”